Harry Potter and the Full Metal Alchemist
by Ibris
Summary: FMAxHP The Elric Bros. and Winry leave Amestris to help in the wizarding war against Voldemort and attend Hogwarts, where they'll meet Harry Potter and co. but is mixing magic and alchemy a good thing? OOCness.
1. Bad Beginnings

**A/N.- Messers Ferchoumaru and Ibris are proud to present this Harry Potter/FullMetal Alchemist crossover, product of a joint effort. Also available in Spanish under the name "Harry Potter y el Alquimista de Acero 2" **(About the 2...it's a long story)**, by Ferchoumaru**

Technical Data:

Name: Harry Potter and the FullMetal Alchemist

Genre: General/Action/Adventure Harry Potter-FullMetal Alchemist crossover.

Requirements: Having seen the FullMetal Alchemist series or read the manga gives a great hand.

Canon: HP-Up to HBP

FMA-Before Al becomes the Philosopher's Stone

Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, as well as anything recognizable from the FullMetal Alchemist universe belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. This chapter was written by Ferchoumaru based in LovelyDeadGirl's "Harry Potter y el Alquimista de Acero"

**Harry Potter and the FullMetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 1.- Bad Beginnings**

East City was quiet after several days of activity; and even more at the Military HQ, since FullMetal had made an appearance once more…and everyone in the city knew what that meant…

-----Flashback-----

"STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" In that same moment, an earthquake shook the whole city.

A local woman smiled and addressed her puzzled son "Look son, Edward Elric is in town, and he just left colonel Mustang's office.

-----Flashback ends-----

A short blond boy walked through the street, side by side with a walking suit of armor and a blond girl that looked at a new screwdriver as if it were a bar of gold. People greeted them puzzled, and the armor replied kindly; nevertheless, the blond boy didn't seem to eager to interact with anyone, he looked very pissed off…and this wasn't a good signal; everyone knew that the FullMetal Alchemist was very irritable.

"You complain too much Ed, it's just a mission like any other" The blond girl said, coming out of her trance and giving the boy a reproachful look.

"It's a joke, I won't stoop myself low enough to go to some God forsaken town wannabe, just so they can easily come and go Winry" Ed replied.

"Nii-san, I think we should obey…" The suit of armor began

"Cut it off Al" the boy growled "That Mustang is an idiot if he thinks I'm doing it"

"You'll have your State Alchemist license revoked, shorty" Winry replied scornfully and as usual…

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT YOU CAN EASILY STEP ON HIM WITH ONE FOOT?!" The boy started shouting in the middle of the street, and Winry started running and laughing.

"Well, you, who else?"

"I'M NO SHORTY!"

--------------------------------------------------------------

Edward walked down the stairs of the place where they stayed. Even though he was tired, he couldn't sleep, and thought about going to the kitchen to drink some water. He looked everywhere, in the hope of finding water, or juice but no…not that. _"Please no"_ He thought as he looked directly at a box across the kitchen.

A carton of milk was staring at him (Well, it wasn't staring, but Ed is a bit paranoid about it)

"No way pal" He addressed the carton "Milk and I weren't made for each other"

"Ed" A voce came from behind him. Ed looked around to find Winry looking at him with a glass of milk in her hand.

"Hi Win, what are you doing awake so late?" He asked puzzled.

"I couldn't sleep…got a bad feeling"

"You got a what?" Ed asked, trying to mock her, but it was precisely the reason why he couldn't sleep either.

"Stop it, I told you I had it and still have"

"Hmmm…You better go get some sleep, it's too late Win"

"Yeah, I guess it's the best th…huh? What's that?" Winry pointed at some black spots outside the window.

Ed stood up quickly and opened the window, having previously transmutated his arm into the usual sword. Through the window came an owl…and another one…and another one! The three of them carrying identical letters, but one swept up the stairs, while the other ones landed in front of them, carrying a letter each on their beaks. Ed looked at the mysterious letter; it bore an old shield of arms: A lion, an eagle, a snake and a badger surrounding a huge H. He turned the letter around, looking for a return address, but the only thing written on the front of the letter was:

_Mr. Edward Elric_

_Kitchen of "The Blue Lake" Inn._

_East City_

_Amestris._

He gave Winry a puzzled look he saw reflected on her face. Ed looked again at the parchment envelope, and opened it carefully, trying not to break it. From the inside he extracted another parchment that read:

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Provisional Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall._

_Dear Mr. Elric:_

_We are pleased to inform you that you've been accepted at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We have to remark that we would be pleased to receive you at our school, being such a renowned alchemist. I must as well advice that we're expecting your reply by owl before July the 31__st__. The Hogwarts Key and Gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, will find you to show you the way. We expect your assistance on September the 1__st__ to board the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9¾ at King's Cross station in London. We suggest you buy all the materials listed in the attached parchment._

_Cordially,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Provisional Headmistress_

"What the…" Ed began, but another voice muffled his muttering.

"Nii-san! There's an owl in my room!" Al shouted, coming down the stairs quickly, staring at the small owl. "Huh…you received letters as well" He deducted, seeing the parchments currently in the hands of his older brother and best friend…Ed nodded.

"Here it says some Hagrid will find us…who do you think he…AAH!" Winry suddenly cried, at the same time the inn's back door fell to the ground noisily.

A man around 10ft. tall entered the room. He had messy black hair and a big matching beard, as well as deep black shining eyes, that didn't quite fit in the first impression the three teens received. The man looked carefully at Al.

"Hullo! Ye mus' be Edward Elric, righ' ya big fella?" He said, noticing the suit of armor was about his same size, slightly shorter. "Now I see why they call ye the FullMetal Alchemis'"

"Umm…you're talking to the wron boy, sir" Al corrected kindly, pointing at his yet again depressed brother.

"Tha' small fella is the…" He began, but couldn't finish since…

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT YOU CAN'T SEE HIM UNLESS YOU USE A MICROSCOPE?!" The blond boy started yelling.

"Nii-san, he said no such thing" Al said, grabbing him from behind as usual, but he didn't need to struggle for too long, since a wrench was flying towards Ed at top speed, hitting him square in the head, leaving him a huge bump.

"Stop saying nonsense Edward…" Winry said aggressively "Please continue sir" She smiled sweetly at Hagrid

"Umm, righ'…so, we'll be srothly takin' a Portkey ter Diagon Alley, I'll explain ev'rythin' later"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on a sec…YOU are trying to tell ME that there's this magic school?" Ed asked skeptically

"Yeah, and it used ter be headed by Albus Dumbledore but…"

"Dumbledore?" The small blond asked dumbstruck. He had read about him, but merely as a legend, a colleague of the legendary Nicholas Flamel, a person said to have created a complete Philosopher's Stone; but the rumors could never be confirmed, since Flamel had disappeared and never heard or seen again.

"So ye have heard o' Dumbledore eh?" The giant's eyes glistened sadly "He used ter be a great man, Dumbledore but…we better hurry now" He blew his nose on a handkerchief and held a nasty-smelling trash bag at an arm's length.

"That…that's gross" Winry said, covering her nose from the stench.

"It'll take a couple o' more minutes…" Hagrid said, consulting his pocketwatch "Meanwhile, is there summat y'want ter know?"

"Yeah, why do I have to go to some magic school when I have a job as a State Alchemist and I'm looking for a Philosopher's Stone?" Ed asked aggressively and impolitely, earning him a murderous look from his friend. Hagrid was dumbstruck by the question.

"W-w-well, I s'pose Mustang didn' tell ye anythin' righ'?" The other three shook their heads "Well…tha' fella always seem'd strange ter me. OK, ye three, yeah, the three o' ye" He added, looking at Winry's disbelieving face "Have magical abilities, but…well, where ter begin…there's many similar dimensions in the universe. In our planet's case, there be sev'ral alternate realities, and one o' them is the one o' Hogwarts. We're goin' through some trouble an' needed some help, so we decided ter ask Mustang fer some people from his departmen' and tha's how yer names appear'd. Tha' fella said you had the proper age ter attend school undercover an' when test were made we foun' tha' yer friend could also perform magic, and considerin' ye migh' need some maintenance, we decided ter give'er a place as well"

The two boys (or boy and armor) looked at Winry, who had the same puzzled look as them, addressing an inquisitive look at Hagrid. Ed, on the other hand, had thousands of questions in his mind.

"And tell me, why did that low-moral God wannabe Mustang didn't see it fit to tell us that we should drop everything we were doing to go to some supposedly magic school in who knows what dimension?" Ed asked angrily again.

"Well, I s'pose he didn' have the chance ter tell ya…"

"We were in his office this morning" Al said suddenly "And he gave my brother some everyday mission"

"I guess it's his idea of a joke" Ed added frowning.

"If it was, it was very bad" Hagrid added, imitating the boy's gesture "We need ye 'cause a war is buildin' in our world, an' ter look after somethin'…in exchage, ye'll have what ye're lookin' fer…we'll it's time, ye comin' or wha'?"

"What was that last bit about 'you'll have what you're looking for'?" The amber-eyed boy asked, staring at the giant now.

"Tha's what I was told, now, let's go" Hagrid growled and extended the bag again "Put yer finger here"

Ed and Al obeyed, even if disgusted by it, but Winry seemed out of herself. The other three looked at her with a hurried look, but she was in a shocked state; finally Ed caught her by the arm and pressed her finger to the bag. Instantly, the two boys felt as if something was pulling them by the navel. The girl, dizzy, closed her eyes, and at the next moment landed, somewhat hard, on the cold pavement of some unknown place. When she looked around, her jaw dropped. "Wow" She head Edward mutter beside her.

"This" The giant growled beside them "Is Diagon Alley"

-------------------------------------------------------------

Harry looked at the man before him, who was looking at him with severe eyes and a serious face. Remus Lupin was now much stricter than before, after the happy moments of Bill and Fleur's wedding and their summer.

"You'll go back to school Harry, for your own good" He said, softening his expression lightly

The seventeen-year-old boy looked at the floor, giving up. There were few things that he could do against that untamable sweetness and strictness that only a father could have. It was true that Lupin was one of the few people he esteemed and he didn't want to fail him in that moment. He finally sighed in defeat.

"Fine…I'll go" The boy began "But I want you to keep me up to date on everything, EVERYTHING, that happens outside, OK?"

"I understand" The werewolf replied with a soft smile "Now, you better get in that train, or you'll miss it"

Behind them, the red steam engine of the Hogwarts Express was throwing smoke out of its chimney. Dozens of students who were late ran hurriedly towards the train's doors; Harry did the same, and as soon as he was on board, the doors closed. He waved good-bye to those that had escorted him to the station until they disappeared as the train left the platform; he assumed Ron and Hermione were already in the prefect's compartment.

"Harry!" A cheerful voice called and a couple of slender arms wrapped him from behind.

The boy turned around to find himself face to face with a pretty redhead, with blue eyes and a delicate smile in her lips. Ginny Weasley, even if bearing her well-deserved sixteen years, was as fresh as if she were eleven. The green-eyed boy beamed at her.

"Hey Gin, how's everything?" He asked without the smile fading.

"Exactly as before when we were heading towards the station and the same as the whole summer Potter" She said with an amused smile "Umm…Shall we find a compartment?" She suggested after noticing they still were in the train's hallway.

"Sure…let's see"

All of the compartments were full, so they decided to try and share the last one, but they froze at the door when they heard "I'M NO DWARF!" coming from the other side, followed by a metallic sound, as if the shouting person had hit his head.

Ginny looked at Harry completely puzzled "Shall we enter?" She asked insecure.

The raven-haired boy nodded unconcerned and opened the door, but what they found inside wasn't exactly what they expected.

A blond boy with amber eyes, pretty short and weird clothing with an even weirder symbol on the back of his coat was yelling at an also blonde girl, but with sapphire-blue eyes, who was wielding a wrench as if it were a sword. On the far end of the compartment, an armored person tried to calm down the arguing couple; but when they head the door opening, the three of them turned around to look at the newcomers, standing on the doorframe looking uncomfortably.

"Umm…do you mind?" Harry asked, with a forced smile.

There were several minutes of uncomfortable silence until the amber-eyed boy jumped from his seat. "OF COURSE NOT, GET OUT!" He bellowed, earning him, an instant later, a Rockbell trademark wrench blow that knocked him out.

The blond girl huffed. "Of course not, take a seat" She said, smiling. Ginny smiled back and sat right beside the unknown girl.

"What's your name?" The redhead asked curiously "I've never seen you before."

"Yeah, we're new here" The blond girl smiled "My name is Winry Rockbell, the one in the suit of armor is Alphonse and the other one is Edward. They're brothers, their surname is Elric"

"I see…tell me, why did you come to Hogwarts? I mean…Dumbledore's not here anymore…

Winry made to speak, but Edward, regaining his senses, stopped her with a murderous look, and the girl looked at the boy shyly. The boy looked at the two Gryffindors with a furious expression.

"We decided to come, that's all"

Ginny mimicked Edward's expression and caught him by his sleeve when he turned around, but he did so with such strength that the sleeve was ripped, revealing something metallic. At first the redhead didn't understand, but after several seconds comprehension dawned upon her: The boy had a metal arm.

She clapped her hands to her mouth and looked at the boy, who had become motionless, looking at her almost with terror and then…

"You idiot!" He yelled and darted out of the compartment.

"Nii-san!" The suit of armor exclaimed, after being silent the whole conversation.

"ED!" Winry turned to look at Ginny, with an annoyed expression "Why did you do that?" She asked concerned and then left to follow the small blond.

Harry and Ginny were now observing Alphonse, who didn't seem too eager to speak.

"My brother is a bit susceptible about his arm" He finally said, after several minutes of uncomfortable silence "And he's pretty impulsive" He added.

Harry frowned…New boys with metal limbs and suits of armor that won't say why they're there? That's something you don't see every day. He kept looking at the silent armor; he seemed to be looking for an excuse to get out of there. Several minutes later, the door was opened again to reveal Winry and Edward, the first with a shy smile and the latter with an unexpressive look, but furious gesture.

"Nii-san!" Alphonse said in a happy voice and his brother smiled back.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, we're here to fetch Al" Winry said smiling.

The armor rose from its place, waved good-bye at the two that were watching him and left with his brother and friend. After several minutes, Harry spoke again

"Something here's not normal"

"This school ceased to be normal a long time ago" Ginny replied.

-----------------------------------------------------

Edward was walking at a fast pace, leaving his brother and female friend behind. All of the first-year munchkins were gathered around a tall figure, now familiar to them. When the giant saw the boy, he smiled, but he smiled wider yet when the other two joined him.

"I see ye three made it" He said in his characteristic voice "But I have a hard time tryin' to see ya munchkin" He added, looking at Ed with superiority.

"WHAT WAS THAT YOU MASTODON?" The amber-eyed boy started yelling and scaring several first years.

Immediately the other three started laughing, partially calming Edward.

"Well, where are we going now, big fella?" He asked later looking at the boats waiting at the shore of the lake.

"Hogwarts" Hagrid replied smiling widely.

Harry quickly jumped out of the train, with Ron, Hermione and Ginny behind him. After a while of small talk, the prefects started ranting about three new kids that wouldn't listen to reasons. This interested the other two greatly, since they had previously met three individuals that matched the description a couple of hours ago. Hermione was altered by that information.

"Do you think they're Death Eaters?" She asked the moment they set foot on Hogsmeade station.

"Umm…I dunno…they just looked weird, but I doubt they're Death Eaters" Ron replied with a thoughtful expression.

"Maybe you're right Ron…" Hermione commented, but in that same moment, the Thestral-drawn carriages arrived. "Let's take one" She added.

They all obeyed the chestnut-haired girl, and inside they continued their conversation, until they took their seats at the Gryffindor table on the Great Hall.

Then professor Flitwick entered, Sorting Hat in one hand, his wand in the other and the three-legged stool floating behind him. When they were set, the first-years were being sorted.

"Harry, look" Ginny whispered, pointing at the end of the line.

There they were, the ones from the train, looking very shy. They were going to be sorted. _"The moment of truth"_ Harry thought. If they were sorted into Slytherin, better start watching out for them. All of the first years passed, giving Gryffindor several additions, as well as for the other three houses. The three mysterious newcomers were the last.

"Rockbell, Winry" Flitwick called and the blond girl sat on the stool and placed the hat on her head.

"Oh…a brilliant mind…a lot of courage…she's got to be…GRYFFINDOR!" The hat announced, creating a wave of applause from the red and gold table.

The girl was discarded, no Gryffindor was a traitor.

"Elric, Alphonse!" Flitwick called again. This time the armor came forth, receiving curious looks, pointing and whispering from the student tables. He sat on the stool and placed the hat over his head.

"Hmm…I see kindness in you…you love animals…I think…HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat concluded and the badgers started applauding.

"Elric, Edward" The head of the house of the eagles called again. The blond boy, the most suspicious one according to Harry, sat on the stool.

The Hat was quiet for a minute, as if meditating.

"Magnificent…hmmm…intelligence I haven't seen in years…ambition, yesss, ambition…a lot of mercy as well…and courage also…hmm…you're complicated…hmmm…"

More of that long, uncomfortable silence, yet, the boy looked calm, no, not calm, unexpressive.

The hat finally sighed "I know what I will do with you boy…even if you're not a boy anymore…oh, whatever" The hat drew air, or seemed to do so "GRYFFINDOR!"

**A/N.-There. That's the first chapter of this crazy crossover. ****Please review...Don't forget my other stories!!!!!**


	2. New Rivalries

**A/N.- OK...here's a new chapter for you (next 4 updates, not counting this one will be kinda fast since we already have those chappies written). Not much to say here, so please enjoy.**

Disclaimer.- Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling and FullMetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, so y'know the rest.

**Chapter 2.- New Rivalries**

After the weirdest dinner feast in Ed's life (one without milk, which balanced things out), he joined, alongside Winry, the Gryffindor first years in following Ron to the Gryffindor common room. When he entered the first years' dormitory, he closed the curtains of his bed to put on his pajamas (so no one could see his auto-mail arm) and extracted a spellbook from his trunk to read for a while until he fell asleep.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny remained in the common room talking about the three mysterious newcomers.

"Well, at least we now know they're not Death Eaters" Harry admitted

"One can never be completely sure…they might be under the Imperius curse or something of that sort" Ginny replied, with her head resting on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"There's nothing wrong with us…besides Ed's temper" A voice behind them replied.

The foursome startled at hearing the voice, but relaxed a bit when they saw Winry.

"Hey, I'm sorry about the train, but now you know how irritable Ed can be. If you want a piece of advice…don't make any comments about his size, arm or brother"

"It's OK, don't worry about it" Hermione said "If he has a reason to hide it, I don't blame him"

"It's a very large and complex story, and I'd prefer if he told it to you himself when he feels ready"

"I can live with that" Harry said coldly, heading towards the seventh years' dorm, knocking and shattering a bowl in the process.

"Let me try, please" Winry asked, drawing her wand.

"Go on" Ginny replied smiling.

The blond girl pointed her wand at the shards and clearly said "_Reparo!_", having the bowl back together in no time.

"Not bad" Ginny admitted raising an eyebrow

"Thanks…as a matter of fact it's the first time I use that one" Winry admitted

"Impeccable, you sure it's the first time you do that?"

"well, yeah…" The blond was starting to blush

"Can you do anything else?"

"Well, several basic spells only"

"Can you defend yourself?" Hermione asked

"Sort of…"

"We'll see…_Stupefy!_"

"_Protego!_" Winry replied on instinct.

The attack rebounded back to its caster…and Hermione fell backwards with the force of her own spell.

"What's with you?" Winry asked angrily, the attack had been completely unexpected.

"Just testing your reflexes, you don't really have time to think of the spell while facing a Death Eater" The statement was partially true, but it was true as well that Hermione had detected a certain talent in the newcomer, and as much as she wanted to deny it, Hermione was growing jealous and, even if she didn't know that, it would become a personal rivalry between the two of them.

"That was one nice spell…what was your name again?" The redheaded girl spoke

"Winry Rockbell, and thanks…in fact my reflexes are quite developed, what with having to hold Ed back every time he fumes…by the way, what's with your friend?"

"I don't know" Ginny replied sighing "She is usually a nice person, but she gets pretty bad-tempered when beaten in something"

"In what did I beat her or what?"

"Nothing really…but we are so used to her being the first to learn any spell she comes across that she isn't praised by it no more; on the other hand you get praised for even a basic spell like that, and I think she got jealous or something…"

"Well what a…witch she turned out to be"

---------------------------------------------------------

"…ic…Elric…FOR MERLIN'S SAKE WAKE UP NOW ELRIC!"

"Is breakfast ready?" Ed asked more asleep than awake

"Move now, McGonagall wants us both in her office"

Edward was completely clueless as to who was talking or about what, until he regained his senses and saw Harry standing beside his bed, fully awake and dressed, and as soon as he processed the message, he dressed and followed him, in a bad temper, until they reached what used to be Dumbledore's office.

"_Order of the Phoenix_"

"What the hell was that Potter?" Ed asked startled as the stone gargoyle moved aside granting them entrance

"The password to the headmistress's office, now get in there Elric" Harry motioned the moving staircase

They both entered what could pass for everything, save an office; still full of the spindly metallic objects previously owned by its former occupant.

"Come in" McGonagall called at them "Take a seat. Potter, this is Edward Elric, he comes from far away; he is an alchemist that has been assigned the mission of aiding us in taking down He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Elric, this is Harry Potter, he was hand-picked, involuntarily though, by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to be, either his final victim, or his bane."

"What do you really want me to do Mrs. McGonagall?" Ed asked impatient.

"Professor, if you don't mind Elric"

"Whatever…" Ed replied wearily

"The thing is that since headmaster Dumbledore was killed by Death Eaters…" She began, but was immediately cut by Edward

"Hold on a moment…what the hell are the Death Eaters?" He asked, with an expression that showed no understanding.

"Voldemort's followers, but just listen" Harry explained, growing impatient by the minute

"…As I was saying" McGonagall continued "We need you and your brother to help us in this war…we want to finish it before it gets worse."

"Whoa, whoa, just hold on a second…you are telling me you want ME and AL to take on a whole army of what's-their-names?"

"Not really a complete army, but you two would be of great help, since Death Eaters can repel magical attacks, but not alchemy…yet it would be better if you had some private extra classes with some professors to amplify your knowledge and get a better defense against them"

"Well…that'd be nice, since I can only perform basic spells, but I think I can do smoothly…and what was that the big guy said about 'ye'll have what ye're lookin' fer'?" He asked imitating Hagrid's growl.

"All at its own time Edward, but for now, you better go get some breakfast, or you'll be late for your first lesson." McGonagall said dismissing them.

Harry and Ed were heading down to the Great Hall not talking to each other, instead Ed was looking cautiously at the way in order not to get lost, since he had noticed the castle hid many passageways and moving staircases. Ed was thinking about all that war business until Harry's voice drew him back to reality.

"Bullocks!"

"What's wrong Potter, you got lost?" Ed asked teasingly

"No, but this shortcut would've saved us a lot of time"

"Excuse me" Ed clasped his hands as he did every time he performed alchemy and he then stretched them towards the wall. When they made contact, the blockade was cleared. Harry was surprised by this, but didn't show it; instead he walked inside the passage that led almost directly to the Great Hall.

When they reached it, each of them looked for their own friends, but unfortunately for both of them, Ginny was chatting animatedly with Winry, with Hermione pointedly looking away.

"Where were you Ed?" Winry asked when the boy sat beside her.

"Potter got me out of bed to go see the headmistress"

"The headmistress? What did she want you for?" Winry asked completely clueless

"To tell me that the teachers will give us extra lessons to be at the level of Potter and company"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, it's you…sorry for the comment, what was your name?" Ed asked kindly, unlike the day before.

"Ginny Weasley"

"Nice to meet you Ginny, it's just that I know no one. That's why I said Potter and company instead"

"I'll believe you, but watch your mouth" Ginny warned him

"Yeah, yeah, whatever"

Flitwick proceeded to hand out schedules. In Ed's there were 7th year classes, as well as extra lessons, which puzzled him

"Dammit, seventh-year and extra lessons? What's wrong with them?"

The answer to this question fell from the sky, literally, since a barn owl landed in front of him carrying a letter that bore the Hogwarts crest, like the invitation letter. Winry looked at the letter curiously, while Ed scanned the Hufflepuff table for his brother, and as soon as he spotted him he beckoned him to join them.

"Nii-san, what's wrong?" He asked as soon as he arrived.

"This" Ed simply replied pointing at the letter.

"And that is…?"

"A letter from McGonagall, duh" Ed replied sarcastically

"Yeah, I figured as much, but what does it say?" Al replied, used to his brother's sarcasm

"Well, let's see…"

_Elric Brothers and Miss Rockbell,_

_Due to necessity because of the war, we've been forced to move you to seventh year, and give you extra lessons to compensate the other 6 previous courses. Don't tell the reason to anyone, even if I trust your discretion. I already talked to your professors so they won't ask any homework from you, giving you extra time to practice._

_Minerva McGonagall._

"What the…"

"What's that Ed?" Ginny asked as she snatched the parchment from Edward's hands.

She read it, and much to Ed's dismay, Harry did as well.

"Excuse me Potter, but I gave the letter to Ginny here"

"Is there any problem with me reading it Elric?" Harry replied in the same cold tone the alchemist had used

"In fact, she reading it is already bad enough, without you reading it"

"Stop it shorty, you're immature enough for me to doubt you're sixteen…"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT YOU MISTAKE HIM FOR A FIRST-YEAR?!"

Harry was so startled that his knocked his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Dammit! What's wrong with you Ed, do you really have to act that way every time someone calls you that?" Winry exclaimed as she drew her wand "_Scourgify!_"

The table was clean as soon as Winry muttered the spell. Even if she kept using basic spells, the reaction was always the same: Hermione would huff and walk away…this time was no exception.

"Well, we need to go to class…I s'pose we'll have to follow you Potter" Ed said, as coldly as he could

"Try not to get lost Elric" Harry replied

They walked down to the dungeons, since they had potions at that time. For those that kept attending the class, it was a great relief to know Snape didn't impart it no more. Ed and Winry (they didn't have that class with the Hufflepuffs, so Al was absent) entered the dungeon shyly, and when professor Slughorn spotted them, he exclaimed

"Well, well, if it ain't Mr. Elric and Miss Rockbell. Come in, come in, take a seat. We'll be brewing a relatively simple potion today, ingredients and procedure are already on the blackboard…oh, and Mr. Elric, no alchemy please."

Ed's smirk was instantly transferred to Winry's face "Sorry, little one, you'll have to do this the same way as the rest of us"

HOW DID YOU JUST CALL ME WIN?!"

"Mr. Elric, please keep your temper down in my class" Slughorn called from the front of the room.

Ed huffed "Whatever" Meanwhile Winry tried to suppress a laugh.

After a series of classes, both blonds were tired but satisfied, since both, alchemy and mechanics, as well as magic, required a great deal of precision, making it slightly easier for them…the only problem were the words.

"Jeez, I'm exhausted" Ed said as he fell gracefully to the couch, while repeating in his mind the lessons from that day.

Harry and Hermione didn't even spare them a glance, while Ginny, puzzled by her friends' behavior, kept at Harry's side out of loyalty, even if she had started developing a friendly relationship with Winry and Alphonse. The armored alchemist had been nice to her the seldom times they had talked, but the fact that he never removed his suit of armor was really puzzling. Ron still said nothing; he just watched everything from ringside, or at least the blond girl, despite the fact that he was dating Hermione.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Alphonse's day, on the other hand, was quite calmer than his brother's, yet he had to answer a lot more questions than his brother and friend, and with good reason, since even if he claimed being 15 years old, his armor was bigger than the average-sized adult, and he never removed it, not even for the meals.

His first lesson was seventh year charms. Even if he didn't quite understand why he had been moved 6 years ahead, he sighed and headed for class. When he entered the classroom, he found he occupied a space normally meant for two students. When professor Flitwick called the roll, he stopped when he reached Al's name.

"Well, well, so you're the FullMetal Alchemist, right?" The small professor squeaked.

"No sir, the FullMetal Alchemist is my older brother, Edward" The armor corrected, for the nth time in his life.

"I see, so the small kid is the eldest?"

Al couldn't hold back a chuckle, picturing in his mind his brother's reaction had he heard the professor "That's right sir, but I strongly recommend you not to say that in front of him, since is reaction is…well, not quite pleasant…"

Flitwick chuckled "I see…you know Mr. Elric, I used to be like him, so I understand"

Al chuckled again, he had noticed his professor's petit size, but had made no comment about it.

"Well, let's begin today's lesson, shall we?"

The day slowly ticked away. In several classes he was the first Elric to be there, in others, the instructors had already had the "pleasure" of meeting Ed. Al noticed, as well as his brother and friend, that thanks to the precision required for alchemy, gave him an advantage when it came to wand movements and potion-making, but he had a hard time with the words. When classes were finally over and he was in the common room, a boy approached him.

"Hello, you are Alphone Elric right?"

"That's me, who are you?"

"My name's Ernie McMillan, pleased to meet you"

"Pleased to meet you too" Al replied.

"Umm…do you mind if I ask you sort of an indiscreet question?"

"I suppose I don't mind, but I can't guarantee I'll answer it" He replied shyly, 99 percent certain that the question was going to be about his armor, his brother or why they were in the castle…unfortunately for him it was the first one.

"Why do you wear that suit of armor?"

"Uuh…s-sorry, I can't answer that" Al replied stuttering a bit

"It's Ok, pretend I never asked" The other boy replied kindly, but couldn't quite hide a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

The suit of armor sighed, all day long he had been bombarded with similar questions…either it was the reason for wearing that armor, about his brother, the reason why they had come to Hogwarts at such a late age, all sorts of things…and with a reason, since it's not an everyday thing to stumble across a suit of armor about the same size as the gamekeeper Hagrid besides a small kid (Don't let Ed find out we said that…) and a blond girl, both 16 years old. Nevertheless, he kindly answered what he could, and what he couldn't, he also replied kindly, even if his patience was growing thin.

-------------------------------------------------------------

The following day, the Gryffindor trio, the Elric brothers and Winry had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts, the first one in which Gryffindor and Hufflepuff coincided.

"Hi, nii-san, how was yesterday?" Al asked, happy to be in a class with his brother and friend.

"How did you expect it to be? Everyone kept bombarding me with questions" Ed replied darkly

"At least you can hide your arm, imagine how's it been for me with this armor" Al replied

"I can imagine" Winry replied sympathetically

In said class, the new professor started with an introduction to the course, and had them practicing for the last 30 minutes a defensive spell more powerful than _Protego_, but far more draining. When the class was over, everyone was exhausted, and only Hermione, Winry, Ed and Al had managed the spell (This made Hermione keep glaring daggers at the other three). After that, the professor handed them a pepper up potion that Ed rejected at the beginning, since he had his suspicions about the liquid, but ended up drinking it.

They coincided again in Herbology, and when that class was over, they headed for the Great Hall. When they were on their way, someone nearly crashed into Ed, but did nothing about it, except to keep walking; the blond boy, on the other hand turned around and called

"Watch where you're walking pal!"

The other boy turned around, he was 17 years old, with silver blond hair and cold metallic gray eyes…it was Draco Malfoy.

"You watch where you're walking, munchkin"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

"You heard me, munchkin"

Ed growled, and Winry had to hold him to prevent him from hitting the former Slytherin.

"Apologize!" Ed commanded

"You wish" Malfoy replied smirking, having a good time watching the young alchemist's temper rise.

"Elric! What the hell's going on here?"

The Gryffindors had arrived, but when they saw the Slytherin, they froze on the spot, Harry drew his wand and the two Weasleys were trying hardly to hold him, placing him under similar circumstances to Ed.

"Hey Potter! Long time no see"

"What are you doing here you bastard?" Harry asked coldly

"None of your business" Malfoy replied, but unfortunately for him, Ron's strength waned and he released Harry's wand arm, which performed a spell that had Malfoy hanging upside down from his ankle.

"PUT ME DOWN THIS SECOND POTTER!" Malfoy commanded

"_Silencio_" Ed muttered, hitting the Death Eater, who stopped emitting any kind of sound.

Harry approached Malfoy, keeping a fair distance from his fists though, and threatened

"If I see you around here again, I will show no mercy, now get your sorry ass out of here" He said coldly, releasing him.

The Slytherin ran away as fast as he could, but behind him, Ed was smiling mischievously, he then clasped his hands, touched the wall and several feet ahead a thin rock crossed from one wall to the other one, at a precise height to make Malfoy trip. He fell over and the other seven laughed at him. When he disappeared around the corner, Ed turned to Harry.

"So…who was that arrogant idiot, Potter?" He said, returning the wall back to its previous state.

"Someone who shouldn't be here" Harry replied darkly. "His name is Draco Malfoy, and because of him, Dumbledore's dead…if you come across him again Elric, beat the shit out of him…but save a bit for me"

After he said so, the Gryffindor Quartet left for the Great Hall.

"I see we're not the only ones that have lost many beloved ones nii-san" Al said, speaking for the first time since the beginning of the incident.

"No Al, seems we're not" Ed admitted, beginning to understand his wizard counterpart a bit more.

"Umm…what about we continue our way to the Great Hall" Winry proposed, making Ed smile widely

"Come on, I'm starving"

**A/N.- That's all for now...thanks for those that have already reviewed, and please do so for the ones that haven't, reading reviews is rather encouraging for us (as long as they're not flames, though). Thanks, Ibris and Ferchoumaru out.**


	3. The Will

**A/N.-OK, so here's a new chapter, for the still few that have read it. Enjoy.**

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, FullMetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, plot belongs to Ferchoumaru and I.

**Chapter 3.-The Will**

It's been a month since the Elric Brothers and Winry arrived at Hogwarts, and despite the stack of homework they were assigned everyday, they kept fresh, unlike their classmates.

"Dammit! It's already 3a.m and I'm not close to finishing" Harry cursed after looking at his watch.

"It would've been different if it had been YOU and not the goddamn 'prince' the one brewing all of your potions last year" Hermione reprimanded.

"You're right, perhaps I should go and retrieve the book to spare me some work"

"HARRY!" Hermione snapped

"WHAT?" Harry snapped back

"That's not proper, remember it's effort what we learn from, good and bad experiences, and most important of all…HONESTY"

"Hermione! What you wanna do is kill us here" Ron complained, supporting Harry.

"You too Ron? Have you both forgotten who the 'prince' actually is?"

"Right" Harry retorted sarcastically "How can we forget the bastard that betrayed all of Hogwarts staff, the Order and most important of all, Dumbledore?"

"So…?"

"Let's just have this little piece of his pathetic existence be of use"

"Passing your potions N.E.W.T based on shortcuts is the lowest…" Hermione began, but Ed interrupted her.

"What book are you talking 'bout?"

"None of your business munchkin"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT YOU CAN NOT SEE HIM AND WON'T GROW UP YOU FOUR-EYES"

"Why, you of course" Harry replied trying to keep his temper down "Besides, my eyesight can be fixed through a magical surgery, but you can only be fixed with stilts…munchkin"

"NOW I'M REALLY GONNA KILL YOU!" Ed bellowed

"BRING IT ON!" Harry replied, now really losing his temper.

"WINRY, LET ME GO NOW!"

"HERMIONE, JUST LET ME TEACH HIM TO STAY OUT OF OTHERS' BUSINESSES"

"Why do they have to act like this?" Hermione asked to the room in general, while trying to hold Harry back

"Because they act like little kids" Winry replied, under the same situation with Ed.

"I agree, Winry" Ron replied, holding Harry's other arm

_Ten Minutes Later…_

"Well, we just have to finish brewing these three potions and we're done…for today" Hermione muttered the last part.

"But it's a pretty long procedure and the slightest mistake will force us to begin again, and we really need at least 60 minutes of sleep" Ron complained

Ed sighed "I dunno why you complain so much…those potions are extremely easy and practical"

"EASY…PRACTICAL…FROM WHAT BLOODY DIMENSION D'YOU COME FROM?!" Ron asked shocked by Ed's comment

"Don't tell me you already…" Hermione began

"Yeah, Ed and I are already done, we only have to transcribe the last results and we're off" Winry finished for her

"Can I ask you something?"

"You already did Ron" Ed replied

"Well, something else?"

"You did it again, Ron" Ed replied again, amused by the little word games. "But you can ask me something else"

"…this little one is pretty observant…" Ron muttered, so only he could hear, and then continued in a normal voice "Aren't you exhausted? I mean, you don't look tired, and even Hermione is falling asleep"

"For me this is pretty common actually" Winry began "Since I have to update myself regularly, everyday there's new automail models and if I want to be the best automail engineer, I have to make the best of the best"

"And this is nothing compared to the extensive research Al and I have made" Ed added.

"So…what's the toughest job you've done?" Hermione asked curious

"Decipher from a book the procedure to create a philosopher's stone"

Harry snorted "How tough can that be Elric? I mean, I deciphered how to get into the Chamber of Secrets, and no one since Voldemort (-Ron shudders-) has been able to enter"

"Well…Dunno what that whatever-his-name-is" Ed replied "But it depends…how tough do you think it is to decipher a complete and incredibly complex alchemic process from a cook book?"

"WHAT?!" Hermione's jaw dropped to the Entrance Hall "What's your reading level?"

"Dunno really, but I guess mine's around 744 books a year" Winry replied, thinking about that for the first time in her life.

"Uhh…etto…Mine and Al's is 1124 books"

"A year?"

"Nope"

"A month?!"

"Nope…a day"

The Gryffindor trio had their jaws dropped all the way down to the dungeons.

"WHAT?! NOT EVEN HERMIONE CAN READ THAT, AND IT'S HERMIONE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT" Ron blurted

"Don't be stupid Ron, of course that's impossible"

"Why d'you say so Potter, your magnifying lens don't allow you to do so?" Ed snickered.

"SHUT UP, ELRIC!"

"In fact…" Ed began, ignoring Harry's outburst "Al and I have already read and analyzed ¾ of the library books, and, I'm not boasting or anything, but Central City library is far better"

"Are you trying to tell us you've read all those books in a month?" Hermione asked disbelievingly

"Nope, only in the weekends"

"Now you've really lost me, can you explain how the hell you do that?"

"Sure, Friday nights we read the books, on Saturdays we analyze, decipher, brief and write down the most important facts"

"And on Sundays?"

"First three Sundays Al and I trained, and last one was Hogsmeade weekend, so Winry and I were on a date…"

"_These kids have done what I haven't been able to in SEVEN YEARS…THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" _Hermione thought sadly.

"But lemme tell you, there some very interesting spells and potions there"

"Whoa, whoa, wait, so you and Winry are…" Harry began

"Dating?" Ed finished for him "What did you think we were, friends with privileges like you and Ginny?"

"ELRIC!" Harry shouted warningly

"Let's make a deal…" Winry proposed

"A deal, Rockbell?" Hermione asked

"Ed and I finish you potions for you and you finish transcribing our data for us"

"No, we must do this by ourselves" Hermione stubbornly refused

"Oh, c'mon Hermione, we need some sleep, we've been up for two days in a row and need to recover some strength" Ron pleaded

"But…"

"Ron's right" Harry cut her "We need to sleep, I don't quite agree either, but it's for the best"

"Alright" Hermione conceded "Deal"

"But watch yourselves if our potions are wrong Elric…" Harry threatened

"Same goes for you if our data is wrong…" Ed replied

And so this peculiar quintet worked together and finished half an hour later. All of them fell exhausted in their respective beds, but the only one who had trouble sleeping that night was Hermione, who inside her own thoughts envied, yet admired, the three strangers; besides there was a great deal of confusion inside her…

-----------------------------------------------------------

"_What should I do…Ron is so kind, noble and he likes children…on the other hand there's Harry, so gallant and __well-mannered, with a stable economy, which Ron hasn't…but there's also Ed, he's small, but has a nicely-toned body, he's so smart as well; I could spend hours chatting with him and we'd never get bored, AND he also has a stable economy…"_

"_The main problem with Ron on the other hand is that he will notice any girl with a nice bottom and small skirt; Harry thinks he is in love with Ginny, and I don't blame him, she's so feminine, which I regrettably am not, although, I gotta admit I'm more developed than her; Ed is Winry's boyfriend, and she's smart and pretty…"_

"_I KNOW! I gotta be smarter than Winry and sexier than Ginny, that way, all three of them will notice me and I'll be able to pick the best one"_

She drifted off to sleep, dreaming of her and each of them and occasionally muttering their names in her sleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------

During breakfast next day, everything was going smoothly, until morning mail arrived. Seven different owls carried seven identical letters, and delivered them to Ginny, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ed, Al and Winry. All the letters read:

_Good morning,_

_After breakfast is over, I request the presence of Ms. Granger, Ms. Rockbell, Mr. and Ms. Weasley, Mr. Potter, and Edward and Alphonse Elric._

_You've been excused from today's lessons. I trust your absolute discretion._

_Cordially,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchraft and Wizardry_

"Now, what would professor McGonagall need us for?"

"Dunno, 'Mione, but it better be good"

"I know what it is Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, suddenly remembering "If I'm not mistaken ("Which you are most likely not" Ron muttered) today they will be reading professor Dumbledore's will!"

"That's right! But where are they reading it?"

"At the Burrow" Ron informed

"And if that's the case…why must we go, if we didn't personally know him?" Ed asked confused, he had read about Dumbledore, but he hadn't KNOWN him.

"Do you think I'm pleased by that Elric?" Harry asked coldly

"Jeez, so early and you're already in such a temper…either it's that, or it's already that time of the month for you"

That last comment earned him a wrench blow from Winry.

"OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Be more respectful Ed" Winry reprimanded him "We know better than most what it is like to lose a beloved one"

"That's why I was trying to lighten Potter's mood" Ed replied sincerely, still rubbing the place where Winry's wrench had hit him.

"What happened to you?" Ginny asked curiously

"It's a very long and complicated story…" Ed replied "what happened to Dumbledore?"

"THAT is another large and complicated story…" Harry replied

After breakfast the seven of them headed for McGonagall's office

"Good morning" She greeted

"Good morning"

"As you well know, today is the reading of professor Dumbledore's will at the Weasley residence of the Burrow, so you will all be going, but first I'll read professor Dumbledore's other will."

"Wait a second, he left two wills?"

"That's right Potter, one will be read at the Burrow, but the other one will be read to you only"

"To them as well?" Harry asked, motioning to Ed, Al and Winry

"That's right. Please have a seat so I can continue.

_If you're reading this, it means I've already passed away. Do not mourn me, nor feel hatred or want vengeance from nobody, since I had a long and well enjoyed life and regret nothing._

_Even if in these times everything looks dark, I've already taken some precaution measures. I finally managed to locate the Elric brothers, these two younglings possess great abilities, so I've been looking for them for three years, but their lives have taken some peculiar turns. Young Edward Elric is the first twelve-year-old to earn the title of State Alchemist, along with the name "FullMetal Alchemist" among the military, but his noble heart and sense of justice have earned him the title of "Dog of the Military in the Side of the People" among the common people in Amestris. I know that, in due time, he and Harry will become as great friends as James and Sirius._

_Te main purpose of this testament, is to grant them certain privileges, along with more obligations._

_The Room of Requirements is, as of this moment, for the exclusive use of the group called the DA._

_Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginevra Weasley, Winry Rockbell, Alphonse Elric and Edward Elric, can enter and leave the castle as they please and need._

_The Library of Hogwarts is also at their disposition 24/7 and they can check out as many books as they need and please._

_All of you (with the exception of Miss Ginny Weasley, who is in 6__th__ year currently) will present your N.E.W.Ts in four different dates, to make sure you don't lose the school term. Professor McGonagall will later inform you of the times and places._

_No one from the Hogwarts Staff or the Order of the Phoenix can stop or join you, unless Harry and Edward agree to it._

_The prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor and the kitchens are also available for you 24/7._

_I strongly request that you find as soon as possible that which Harry (and most likely Ronald and Hermione as well) knows, no one beside you must know about them, not even members of the Order, unless it is absolutely necessary._

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore._

**A/N.- That's all for now, probably the next chap will be out on Saturday. Ibris and Ferchoumaru out.**


	4. The Will Part Two

**A/N.- Here's next chappie. Sorry, I said I'd update yesterday, but I wasn't home all day. Anyway, here it is, and thanks to all those who have reviewed.**

Disclaimer: We own nothing, JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and Hiromu Arakawa owns FullMetal Alchemist.

**Chapter 4.- The Will (Part Two)**

Everyone was shocked and surprised by professor Dumbledore's last words; after all, what was so special about these Elric brothers? There was a dead silence for several minutes until

"Very well, you shall leave in thirty minutes to the Burrow through the fireplace in the Gryffindor common, I'll arrive some time later with some other professors" Headmistress McGonagall explained.

"By other professors you mean Hagrid and professor Slughorn, don't you?"

"That's right Mr. Potter, now please everybody leave"

Everybody obeyed.

-----Towards the common room-----

"Excuse me but…umm…how are we supposed to get to Ron's house through a fireplace?" Winry asked.

"Through the Floo network" Hermione replied

"Huh?! What's that?"

"It's sort of a magical network of roads that connect fireplaces, magically of course" Hermione answered, trying to keep it as simple as possible.

"Oh" Winry said, even more confused now than before"

"Why did Dumbledore trust the Elrics so much?" Harry mused

"That's obvious, 'cause I'm the great FullMetal Alchemist hahaha! What is impossible for everyone is a piece of cake for me…even miracles, those take longer but I perform them anyway…HAHAHAHAHA!" Ed exclaimed in Total Showoff Mode.

"Yeah, great…that is the distance between his head and the ceiling, right?" Harry asked sarcastically

"ARE YOU SAYING I'M SO SHORT THAT YOU NEED A TELESCOPE TO SEE ME AND THAT I DON'T EVER GROW 'CAUSE I HATE MILK?!"

"Of course not Elric!"

"Huh?! Really?"

"Sure"

"Oh…thanks" Ed replied, his temper slowly fading back to normal

"If I'd been serious I would've said that I need at least TEN super telescopes one in front of the other to barely make you out pipsqueak"

"I'M SO GONNA KILL YOU SON OF A…"

"NII-SAN!"

"Leave them alone Al" Winry and Hermione commanded him

"WHAT?! They'll kill each other!"

"Al, remember they'll have to be super best friends forever, so let them be" Winry and Hermione repeated

"SHUT UP WINRY!"

"SHUT UP HERMIONE!" Ed and Harry yelled at the same time.

In that very moment, a wrench and a rather thick book hit Ed's and Harry's faces respectively, leaving them half-stunned (they must have a rather thick skull to resist such treatment).

"But…why did you hit me Hermione?" Harry asked, puzzled by Hermione's newest behavior.

"You yell at me I punish you, got it?" Hermione replied, winking at him and shocking everyone.

"_My goodness, what did I just say? I'm not like that; It sort of slipped, but…was that sexy or violent?"_ Hermione thought

"Uhh…Hermione, you alright? Ron asked worried.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, that was rather…feminine…rather…sexy" Ron stammered

"Was hitting Harry sexy?"

"No, winking at him like that"

"Jealous Ron?" Hermione teased

"No…absolutely not…why should I be? Of course not Hermione…well…we better go get changed"

Ron left in an apparent hurry, but everyone within a league could see he looked like hell.

"Need a hand Harry?" Hermione asked, trying to help him stand up

"NO…I mean…yeah, thanks" Harry replied, more nervous, shy and scarlet-faced than ever.

"I better go to my Common Room, since I can't enter yours" Al said

"No, come with us, so you'll be there on time" Hermione replied

"Is it okay if I know your password?"

"They'll change it later today anyway"

Everyone, save Ron who had already left, headed for the Gryffindor Common Room, and twenty minutes later, almost everyone was there, ready for the trip.

"Wonder what mum'll be making for lunch, I mean, since it's a special occasion, maybe she'll make her famous pumpkin pies and will buy butterbeer and…"

"I think the only thought in your head today will be to eat Ron" Harry replied

"What's wrong with that Harry? I bet Dumbledore's will will say exactly the same as the one McGonagall already read so why worry? I mean, after that what could possibly surprise us more?"

"One, it's HEADMISTRESS McGonagall and two, people closest to Dumbledore will be there so you could at least PRETEND you're still in mourning" Hermione reprimanded him while coming down the girl's staircase.

"Oh come on Hermione, don't be so…so…what the bloody hell are you wearing?!"

"What, do I look bad in it?"

Hermione was wearing a black silk dress, and even if it had no cleavage, it still hugged her curvy figure perfectly, highlighting it and stunning everyone.

"Hermione, are you ill or is something wrong with you today?" Ron asked again

"Do I look that bad?"

"NO…you look rather hot…I mean…it seems like it's rather hot in that" Harry said pretty much dumbstruck

"Not really…uuh…Al, why will you go in that?" While Winry, Harry and Ron were staring at Hermione the Elric brothers had come down the stairs.

"Huh, is it bad for the occasion? It's just I don't know how wizards dress in occasions like this so I dressed like a normal person…how do you call them? Mukles?"

"It's 'muggles' and we dress just the same for events like this but what I don't really understand is why don't you remove your armor suit?" Hermione asked back

"Uuh…well…because…you know…I just…" Al stammered

"It's because that suit of armor is a present from his mother before she dies, right Al?" Winry covered for him

"Exactly, Al is rather attached to that armor, some even like to say that they're one same thing, but our mom died when we were very young so it's his greatest treasure"

"And they say I'm the weird one" Harry muttered "Well, let's get going"

"_That was TOO close"_ Ed, Al and Winry thought at the same time.

"Well, come on or we'll miss the pumpkin pies" Ron ushered them

"Excuse me, but how do you enter the Floo network?" Winry asked

"Let me explain, you walk into the fireplace, take a handful of Floo powder (he pointed at it) and say CLEARLY "The Burrow", you'll be engulfed by bright green flames and at the most unexpected time you'll be at my home" Ron explained as simple as he could.

"But we don't have enough Floo powder, so we better go in couples" Hermione proposed.

"OK, we'll decide with an 'up or down'" Al suggested.

"UP OR DOWN" The first couple was Al and Ron

"Here I go pumpkin pies" Ron said drooling slightly.

Ron and Al (the latter rather difficultly) squeezed into the fireplace and Ron exclaimed "The Burrow" while dropping the powder and they were gone behind bright green flames (Ed and Winry were open-mouthed and wide-eyed)

"Ed, Winry, we better continue, we'll be late" Hermione reminded them

"Oh, right" They replied in unison

"UP OR DOWN" The four remaining shouted and the next couple was Harry and Winry, who left followed by Ed and Hermione.

-----At the Burrow-----

Ron was entering the living room with a tray full of desserts he was eating when he spotted Harry knocked-out in a corner, Ed with swollen and reddened cheeks and Fred and George rolling in the ground with laughter.

"What the hell happened here?"

"It was…HAHAHA…so…funny…HAHAHA" George tried to say

"Ok…ok…after you and the guy in the armor arrived, the blond arrived, followed by Harry and…and…HAHAHA" Fred managed

"So…what's with that?" Ron asked

"That…that that blond girl landed face up on the ground and then Harry…and she…HAHAHA" George tried again, but started laughing uncontrollably

"They were literally thrown out of the fireplace so Winry landed back first on the floor and then Harry fell on top of her" Al explained.

"So…?" Ron still didn't understand

"Well, you see, Harry's face ended up on Winry's breasts and she got so mad that she hit him repeatedly with her wrench, till he was out cold"

Ron broke into uncontrolled laughter "HAHAHA and…wha…what else happened…to Ed?"

"Then my brother fell back first out of the fireplace and Hermione's bottom landed on his face so she slapped him hard"

After hearing this, Ron stopped laughing immediately and and sent half-knocked-out Ed a murderous glare.

"Is Ickle Ronniekins jealous?" Fred and George taunted

"OF COURSE NOT!" Ron asked furious, storming out of the room.

After Harry and Ed regained conscience, they headed out for the back yards, where there were only members of the Order; they took their seats after greeting everyone and McGonagall read the will.

_If you read this, it means I lost my life. Do not grieve over __me; do not keep resentment, hate or worse, desire of vengeance against no one. I lived a long and prosperous life and know that I don't regret anything. Even if the situation seems rather dark and critic, I already took necessary measures all of the presents are aware of._

_I've left Harry and young Edward a mission that only the two of them can accomplish and no one else must intervene unless requested by them specifically; I'd also like to add that all of the D.A. Members, the Elric brothers and miss Rockbell are officially members of the Order now…Minerva will give you the details later. But this testament is to give out my material goods, so let's begin._

_Arthur, I know your fascination with muggle objects, so I leave you some rather curious objects, along with the explanation of how they work, I hope they'll be as fun and useful for you as they were for me._

_Molly, to you I leave all of my cookbooks. Truthfully I was never good at this cooking business, but the recipes I read there seemed to be delicious, and I'm pretty sure you'll make them even better._

_Remus, to you I leave two things: one of them is the Defense Against the Dark Arts, I already discussed it with the Board of Governors and the post is yours for an indefinite time, I know you won't let me down. The other thing I leave you is all of my money, please don't reject it, it is no charity nor donation, I do this because I want you to be happy and am sure that you'll give it a good use._

_Edward, I never met you personally, but I know you have a promising future in you hands, so I give you all of my Alchemic research and the most powerful sword in the world, Excalibur, I know you'll give it a good use._

_Finally, to you Harry, the grandson I never had, I leave my beloved Fawkes, take good care of him, since he is rather fond of you. I also leave you the sword of Godric Gryffindor and my pensieve, use them well._

_So long my dear friends, I know I'll meet you on the other side someday, I'll be waiting for you happily but please…try not to come so soon._

_Affectionately,_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore._

There was a moment of complete silence until Molly invited everyone inside for a cup of tea, everyone was heading inside until

"I can't understand why this had to happen to him, it's not fair, he was a good wizard, and he shouldn't have died! Not like that!" Harry said, crying.

"It's not so bad Potter, that's how it is, it is an equivalent exchange" Ed said, trying to make him feel better.

"Equivalent exchange?"

"The basic principle of Alchemy and of Nature itself, for life to exist, there also must be death"

"Easy to say, but that's not true. You don't know what it is to lose someone, do you…mommy's child?"

If there was something that angered Ed more than any comment about his size, was if someone messed with his mother.

"You're the one that know nothing, daddy's kid"

That was the lowest blow for Harry, and one he had never forgiven so easily.

"_EXPELLIARMUS!"_ Harry yelled, but Ed, used to combat, clasped his hands and created a stone wall which absorbed Harry's attack.

"_BOMBARDA MAXIMA!"_ The spell turned the wall into dust and sent Ed flying backwards several yards.

"SO YOU THINK YOU'RE THAT GOOD EH PRETTY BOY? TRY THIS!" Ed now transmuted a giant stone punch that headed towards Harry.

"_REDUCTO!"_ Harry countered, but much to his surprise, instead of stopping the attack, hundreds of smaller stones hit him, breaking his nose and mouth. Harry was barely getting up when he heard

"_Stupefy!"_ The jet of light hit him and he was sent backwards, crashing onto a tree.

"You really thought I'd only use Alchemy? You're so naïve"

"It takes more than that to beat me Elric"

"We have to stop them!" Hermione commanded, seeing how savagely Ed and Harry were fighting, but she was stopped by Lupin.

"Let them do it, it's better if you don't intervene, I know what I'm telling you"

"But…but they'll kill each other!" Winry said crying

"No Winry" Al said softly "When my brother fights he focuses so much forgets everything else, if you intervene the one who could get hurt or killed is you"

"He's right, it's best if we do nothing" Lupin seconded.

"Besides, it's been years since I last saw such a magnificent duel" Mad-Eye mused.

"They both have talent" Slughorn affirmed

"Harry's got a great future, just like James" Lupin added.

While everyone was watching, Harry was thrown at the fence, breaking it.

"What's wrong Potter, six years in school aren't enough to beat me?"

For the first time in his life Harry felt a sensation he had never felt before, his blood was boiling, his breath was fast, adrenaline was rushing through his body at maximum levels. Yes, he had one only thought, something that would change his life forever and no one expected.

"You think so Elric? Let me show you something special"

"Give me your best shot" Ed taunted.

"Don't worry, I will…" And after thinking it over several second he shouted "_AVADA KEDAVRA!"._

**A/N.- Pam, pam paaaaaam! Bet you didn't expect that, did you? hehe, well there it is...chapter 5, and the outcome of the duel will be up soon!! Please review will ya? Thanks.**


	5. The Most Poweful Alliance

**A/N.- Yipee, another chappie in a short time, hope you like it**

Disclaimer: Harry Potter - Rowling; FMA - Arakawa; Got it?

**Chapter 5.- The most powerful alliance.**

"Good morning sleepyhead!"

"Hermione? Wh-where am I?"

Harry woke up in a rather spacious white room, with big-sized windows that allowed the first rays of sun to crawl into the room. To his right there were flowers of various sizes and colors, plushies, chocolates, books…in short, loads of get-well presents for him. To his left there was a couch with several sheets and blankets, empty coffee pots, empty biscuit and sweet wrappers, half-eaten sandwiches, school textbooks, parchment, quills and inkstands spread over the floor and sitting beside her bed was Hermione, sleep-depraved and crying.

"Hermione, why are you crying? What's wrong? Where am I?"

"You are in Saint Mungo's and I'm crying because I'm happy that you finally woke up" She said while hugging him a bit too tightly

"OW! Why did that hurt?"

"Sorry Harry, I didn't mean to hurt you"

"I'll forgive you only if you tell me why you are crying" He conditioned

"Because you are alive, awake and we were afraid of losing you"

"Us? Who? Why?" Harry could only articulate one-syllable questions

"Don't you remember your duel with Ed?"

"Yeah…some of it…last thing I remember is casting _Avada Keda_…I killed Elric!" He said the last part with sheer terror in his voice, with such an angst he felt shivers running down his spine.

Hermione said "I'll tell you then what happened after that, 12 days ago"

"TWELVE DAYS?!"

"After you cast the killing curse…"

-----Flashback-----

"What's wrong Potter, six years in school aren't enough to beat me?"

For the first time in his life Harry felt a sensation he had never felt before, his blood was boiling, his breath was fast, adrenaline was rushing through his body at maximum levels. Yes, he had one only thought, something that would change his life forever and no one expected.

"You think so Elric? Let me show you something special"

"Give me your best shot" Ed taunted.

"Don't worry, I will…" And after thinking it over several seconds he shouted "_AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

Ed wasn't expecting that attack, and he knew exactly what awaited him if he was hit with it…in a blink he thought what he should do

"_FUNKELIN!"_

From Ed's wand shot a golden beam that crashed with Harry's green one…everyone witnessing was astonished.

"WE HAVE TO STOP THEM BEFORE THEY KILL EACH OTHER!" Lupin commanded fiercely.

Mad-eye, Tonks, Arthur, Fred, George and Lupin tried to get closer to them in vain, it was as if they were surrounded by a huge force field, making all of them to fly backwards several meters.

"Cut the crap and stop them!" Molly Weasley shouted hysterically

"It's impossible Molly, those are the two strongest spells there are, and they are confronting each other!" Lupin said, with such impotence, being helpless in stopping them.

"SO WHAT?! YOU CAN DO SOMETHING!" Al retorted with his soul torn (metaphorically).

"The power those two have is over-human, they've outpowered us by a milestone" Mad-Eye Moody said, half admiringly half scared to death.

"It's a duel of titans, out of our world's control" Arthur confirmed teary-eyed.

"_Life robbed me of my parents, my heroes, my childhood, my teenage…what does he know about pain, desperation, angst, about being powerless to do more for the ones I love?_"

"_Potter thinks he's the only one who has suffered, but I can't die…not here, not now…I must recover Al's body, I must fulfill the old man's last will, be beside Winry…no one will EVER take her from me_"

After this the spells gained such power that they caused a gigantic explosion. After it was cleared everyone tried to get close to them, but the leftover energy was so strong that everyone that entered it's field of reach instantly felt weak, save for Winry and Hermione, that ran to Ed's and Harry's sides respectively.

Several moments later the rest of the Order members recovered their strength.

"Molly, warn Saint Mungo's we'll be arriving with an emergency" Mad-Eye barked.

"Yes, right away"

Everyone got closer to them as the dust cleared. Arthur and Al approached Ed.

"C'mon Ed, you're damn strong…you can't leave me…you'll see…I'll make the best automail for you…charge-free for this once…but please don't leave me Ed" Winry said between sobs.

Arthur and Al were stunned frozen at the sight of the scene before them: both Edward's automails were shattered to pieces and the rest of his body was badly burnt, his eyes were blank and a thin column of smoke came out of his mouth, and he was hardly breathing.

"…Nii-san…" Al muttered

"He…he survived" Arthur stammered with disbelief.

Several meters away, Harry was lying over a pool of his own blood with deep cuts and gashes all along his body, he was also breathing difficultly.

"Come on Harry…you can't die here, much less now…you must live Harry…please, for whatever you want you must live Harry…you'll be cured, you'll see" Hermione said also between sobs.

"Portkey's ready dad" Ginny informed, trying hard to contain her tears.

"Alright, we must leave NOW"

"Win…l-lo…veyou"

"Me too Ed"

"Er…my…knee…will…live"

"I know you will Harry"

------Flashback ends-----

"After that you were brought here to Saint Mungo's, both went into surgery and were attended by most of the healers here, and how would you not, I mean, It's not everyday the receive survivors of such curses"

"I see…so I've been unconscious for twelve days…damn I just can't imagine the gossip running around Hogwarts…this year I get 'serial killer'"

"Exactly the opposite, I'd say you'll be the heroes of the year…the latest legend of Hogwarts"

"Huh?! Come again?!"

"To get you and Ed out of trouble, Order members spun a tale that a couple of chimaeras were sent to kill you both and you used the curses on them to defend yourselves"

"But what about the so-called chimera corpses?"

"Lucky for you both, two chimaeras HAD BEEN sent to kill you during your duel, but they got killed as soon as they approached you, so you DID kill them…unconsciously though…"

"Wow…that's called being bloody lucky"

"Tell me about it"

"And they believed you?"

"Now that we're actually lying about almost a 100 percent of the facts they believed it completely and immediately…ironic isn't it?"

"So that explains all those presents…but who has stayed here?" Harry asked, looking at the mess around the couch.

"Order members rotate the morning shift and Ginny, Lupin and I take turns for the night shift and, well…I fell asleep here last night.

"Thanks for everything…"

"No Harry, thank YOU for staying with us" Hermione replied shaking her head.

"And uhh…is Elric alright or is he still unconscious?"

"He woke up three days ago"

"No" Hermione said, back to her usual self "You'll eat something first"

"But…"

"No 'but's Harry, I'll be right back" Hermione cut him and left the room.

Several minutes later she returned with a food tray which contained a gelatin, vaporized vegetables and a turkey sandwich.

"OK, now, try to sit down Harry" As soon as Harry did so she settled the mattress in a seating position with a flick of her wand "Now say 'Aah'"

"You're not thinking of hand-feeding me are you?"

All Hermione did was give him a harsh yet tender and Harry complained no further; even if the food tasted bad he was docile.

"So…can I go see Elric now?"

"Yes, now you can"

Harry slipped out of bed and stood up, making Hermione blush deep crimson.

"Hermione…you alright?"

"Harry…uuh…not that I complain but…don't you think I better get you some pants while you go to the bathroom to…do whatever you have to do?"

Harry, puzzled by Hermione's answer looked at himself and noticed that, not only he was devoid of clothing from the waist down, but he had a hard on. He tried to cover himself with his bed sheets and only managed to fall down.

"I'll be right back with some clothes for you"

Once out of the bedroom Hermione could only think one thing "_Wow…now THAT was a NICE wand…definitely many points earned there_"

She entered Harry's room several minutes later with a fresh change of clothes and found him wrapped in his bed sheets.

"Finished with that business Harry?"

"Haha, very funny Hermione, now…would you mind turning around?"

"OK"

Once Harry was changed they headed for Ed's room.

-----Room 1521-----

"What do you think Ed?" Winry asked

"Uuh…they're fine?" Ed asked back tentatively

"Just fine?!" Winry asked again, but this time with wrench in hand

"They're great! They're the best in the world!" Ed corrected immediately

"Glad you liked them so much, 'cause it'll be 3,000 galleons for both"

"WHAT THE…?! I REMEMBER YOU SAYING THAT THEY'D BE CHARGE-FREE THIS TIME!"

"It was the angst of the moment…now tell me…am I supposed to let you, such a big spender, pay me poorly?"

Harry and Hermione entered the room in that same moment

"But if the exchange rate is 10 senz for a galleon I'd actually be paying you 30K, that's robbery Win!"

"Ed, d'you know how many guys would pay to have those done for them?"

Harry cleared his throat in that moment "Uuh…if you want, we can come back later"

"Oh…well, well, you finally woke up eh Potter? Why would you like to come back later? I mean, you're already here"

"Well…so you can finish what you were doing. I never thought you'd be that kind of girl Winry, I mean, I respect everyone and we're OK with that…just finish your business and call us when we can come back"

"Harry…you actually thought he was paying for…" Winry started laughing uncontrollably

"Hermione, is Potter such a pervert all the time or what?"

"Umm…well…no…in fact, I don't actually know; if he got excited for me hand-feeding him, I don't know what kind of pervert he is" Hermione said giggling.

"Told you already there must've been something in that food, or it was a secondary effect or something!" Harry said exasperated

"Yeah, right Harry, that's what they all say" Winry replied sarcastically

"I must say I do understand Potter in this one" Ed informed

"Please enlighten us Mr. Know-It-All" Winry dared him

"Hermione…uuh…how can I say this? You forgot to wear a bra today and with such a lose shirt you leave almost nothing to imagination…every man in Potter's situation would react exactly the same…"

Hermione felt a blush creep up her neck so she checked herself on the mirror and confirmed it, blushing deep crimson.

"Winry…could you…?"

"Sure, come here" Both girls left the boys for a moment, Ed with a huge bump from Winry's wrench.

"Could've been any more subtle Elric?"

"Shut up Potter" Ed snapped

"And what were you talking about a while ago then?"

"My new limbs" Ed replied simply

"New limbs?"

"Check the case"

Harry did as told and saw a prosthetic arm and lef.

"I-I knew about your arm, but not about your leg…"

"Loooong story"

"And what will she do with those new limbs?"

"Eat them of course, they taste good 'a la diabla'…SHE'LL OBVIOUSLY ATTACH THEM YOU DOLT!"

"I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE ATTACHED JACKASS, THEY USUALLY ARE ONLY FASTENED TO THE STUMP!"

"Can't we just leave you guys alone for two seconds?" Winry asked while she and Hermione reentered the room

"He started it" Ed growled pointing at Harry

"No way, you did" Harry snapped back

"ENOUGH BOTH OF YOU! You act like five-year-olds!" Hermione scolded them

"Whatever…by the way…what did you come for in the first place Potter?"

"Well…I…came to a…apologize…the other day I…well…overreacted a bit and…" Harry stammered, trying to apologize, but not finding the correct words to do so.

"Well…so…so did I" Ed stammered back

"Huh? So did you what?"

"Well…you know…I also…thought like you"

"Why is it always hard for men to apologize?" Hermione asked

"You just said it…they're men hahaha" Winry said.

"Where's your brother Elric? Thought he'd be here"

"Al's back at school, so he can help me with my homework" Ed informed

"You mean he's back at school so he can DO YOUR homework" Winry corrected.

"Tell me Win, how do you expect me to do my homework in a hospital?"

Winry huffed and replied sarcastically "Well…I don't know…perhaps the same way as Hermione and I do?"

"But I'm injured and you're not" Ed retorted

"Ill man that eats and pees, in him not even the devil believes" (It was tough for me to find a translation that actually rhymed so don't blame me if it's kinda lame) Winry replied in a sing-song voice

"But I have to eat to recover properly"

"Yeah, but not like a king's child"

"I have to recover my strength OK? Besides my eyesight is not quite at 100 percent right now and I don't want to push it too much by reading textbooks and writing essays"

"You REALLY can't push your eyesight Ed?" Winry asked disbelievingly

"Really" Ed replied

"Then what are those three stacks of comic books doing on your nightstand?" Winry said, pointing at the aforementioned comics

"I don't read them, I just look at the pictures" Ed retorted

"Ed…I know you since we were small kids and you don't only see the pictures…unless it's a Hentai mag"

"Winry…what's Hentai?" Harry asked innocently

"Can you explain that to him Hermione?" Winry asked a bit surprised

"Well…you see…I don't know what Hentai is either" Hermione said, apparently ashamed of not knowing something

"You two REALLY don't know?!" Ed asked with disbelief

"No" Harry and Hermione replied in unison

"Potter, Hermione…ever done a Russian before?"

"No"

"A Cuban?"

"No"

"Drunk alcohol?"

"No"

"Have you ever made out?"

"NONE OF YOUR BUSNIESS!" Harry snapped

"OK, OK; then tell me, what have you done with your life that you haven't really lived."

"Do I need to remind you that we attend a boarding school almost all year? Whatever break time we have we use it to recover lost sleeping hours" (This ACTUALLY exists; it is called the ITESMian Syndrome, ITESM stands for Monterrrey Institute of Technology and Superior Studies, in Spanish)

Ed sighed "We got loads to tech you"

"What do you mean Elric?"

"How about this?"

"How about what?" Harry asked puzzled

"An alliance, never forged before…an alliance between Wizards and Alchemists" Ed proposed

"Why do you propose such a thing?"

"So we can fulfill Dumbledore's last will, defeating Vol-what's-his-name"

"Voldemort" Harry corrected "But why are you so interested in defeating him?"

"Simple; because if we don't, he will gain a lot of power, he will then destroy the entire Wizarding World and since people like him are not satisfied so easily, he will continue conquering and destroying the whole world, Amestris included, until he is the ruler of the world. I've seen a lot of people suffer for years and I won't let Voldemort cause any more pain…what do you say?"

"I say let's kick Voldemort's ass…so I'm in"

These said, Harry James Potter and Edward Elric shook hands (left ones by the way, since Ed was still missing his right automail arm), neither of them knowing that this alliance would change history forever, that it would be unique, since it would be considered the most powerful alliance ever forged.

-----Somewhere in continental Europe-----

In a gloomy room, barely lit by several candles, two figures talked.

"Is Edward Elric in Hogwarts?"

"He is indeed milord, Dumbledore found those brothers before he died"

"That old codger always got the upper hand, lucky for me you got rid of him Severus"

"And what do you plan to do now milord?"

"I need him to join me, he's got an immense capacity, and skill, and he IS powerful"

"So you will…"

"Yes. I'll make him my son, my successor; I just have to guide him to the proper path"

"And how do you plan to do so, I mean, if I'm allowed to know, milord?"

In that very moment the room's fireplace came to life and from the green flames emerged a woman of average height, long black hair with some gold streaks and fine gestures.

"It's an honor to meet you again, my almighty Dark Lord…and his lapdog Severus Snape"

"Long time, no see, Deyanira"

"How many times do I have to remind you to NOT…CALL ME…DEYANIRA?!"

"I'm pleased to see you again, Lorena Deyanira Malfoy"

"The honor is mine, milord. I apologize beforehand for the clumsiness of my dear brother Lucius and his stupid son Draco. In compensation here's a detail report of all of the Ministry of Magic's dealings"

"As efficient as usual" Voldemort replied pleased

"Just give me an order and I'll obey without a second's hesitation"

"I will…I have a mission for you"

**A/N.- Sorry, another cliffie, but this time I'll also update soon, I just have to finish translating the next chappie (We write the story first in Spanish and then I translate it). Thanks for reading and...don't forget to review!!!!!**


	6. The Final Lineage

**A/N.- Yipee yo, yipee yay! New chappie!!!! Hope you like it. WARNING: Last part's borderline M rated**

Disclaimer: JKR is to Harry Potter as Hiromu Arakawa is to FMA

**Chapter 6.- The Final Lineage**

"I say let's kick Voldemort's ass…so I'm in"

"Well, since we are already allies, now we can exchange information"

"Maybe I should begin by telling you whatever I know about Voldemort, and about the prophecy as well" Harry suggested

"Not necessary, Hermione already told us everything related to Voldemort, the prophecy, your adventures and especially about the Horcruxes" Ed replied

"Good, so I suppose you know we gotta find them and destroy them"

"Yep, but d'you really know what are they?" Ed asked in return

"Several, why?" Harry asked curiously

"'Cause I asked Colonel Mustang –Or Mr. Egocentric, as I call him- to send me all the information they could find about the topic two days ago, and this morning a parcel arrived for Winry from Lieutenant Hawkeye" Ed explained.

"And uuh…who's this Lieutenant Hawkeye? And why did she send it to Winry and not to you?" Harry asked more confused than before

"Lt. Hawkeye is Col. Mustang's –who regrettably is my commanding officer- second-in-command and she sent it to Winry because…"

"Yeah?" Harry, Hermione and Winry leaned forward to listen

"…of a reason unknown to me" Ed finished grinning and everyone else fell to the floor.

"Anyway, want me to tell you what the Horcruxes I know are?" Harry offered

"I'd prefer Winry read her info to us first, and if it is the same as yours, it means it's 100 percent trustworthy" Ed declined.

"100 percent trustworthy?" Hermione asked skeptically

"Yep, when in need of information, there's no place better than Central City to get it" Ed said as if he were and advertiser.

"Well, let's see if that's true, Winry, could you…" Hermione asked

"Sure" Winry opened the parcel, it contained a book and a letter and she decided for the letter first.

_Good morning Winry-San, I write to you this letter to report back the information requested by Edward, since Colonel Mustang is somewhat depressed…but you'll find out more about this when you return to Central. The content of this letter is divided into three different points you'll read now:_

_Possible Horcruxes_

_Salazar Slytherin:_

_-Locket_

_-Family Ring_

_-Basilisk_

_Godric Gryffindor:_

_-Sword "Lion Fang"_

_-Shield "Dental Trance"_

_-Millenium Armor_

_Helga Hufflepuff:_

_-Cup_

_-Pocketwatch_

_-Winged shoes_

_Rowena Ravenclaw:_

_-Diadem_

_-Eyeglasses_

_-Telescope_

_That was the information requested by Edward. Colonel Mustang found some more data he considered to be vital for you. Several millennia ago, a man named Myrddin wrote a book on magic, which mentions two powerful spells. Even if I annexed the book, I took the liberty to transcribe the fragments about the two spells._

"_Avada Kedavra__ is a curse that requires great amounts of negative energy. When this energy is focused and released, the recipient suffers an electric overcharge that will cause immediate death. From this curse the __Imperius __and the __Cruciatus__ curses derivate. The former gains control of the recipient by constantly sending electrical charges at him/her that affect Cephalic reasoning; the latter sends stronger electrical charges to all the nervous terminals, causing unimaginable pain and if held for too long, the recipient may lose sanity…_

…_Funkelin__ is __Avada Kedavra__'s twin curse, but this one requires large amounts of positive energy that when released accelerates wind all around it, causing it to slash the recipient due to the great amounts of friction as if it were a red-hot sword, causing death. From this curse the __Patronus__ Charm and the __Sectumsempra__ Curse are derivate. The former uses the positive energy to attack beings with large amounts of negative energy and if correctly cast, will take an animal form closely related to the caster; the latter uses both positive and negative energy to slash the recipient with less intensity than __Funkelin__, the recipients usually survive if treated promptly…_

…_Have clear that positive and negative energy are neither good nor evil, it all depends on the caster and the circumstances he is found in…"_

_Lastly we tracked down the last living descendants of the four founders of Hogwarts:_

_Helga Hufflepuff's is Lorena Deyanira Malfoy_

_Rowena Ravenclaw's is Hybris Raftalia Black_

_Godric Gryffindor's is Joshua Fernand Gryffindor_

_Salazar Slytherin's is Tom Marvolo Riddle_

_But after further research we tracked down some other descendants as well:_

_Godric Gryffindor's: Edward and Alphonse Elric on the side of their mother Trisha_

_Salazar Slytherin's: Harry James Potter on the side of his father James._

_Expecting Edward's status report I bid farewell for now._

_First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye_

When Winry finished the letter, everyone was dumbstruck, but doubtlessly the most dumbstruck of them all was Harry who immediately paled and starter trembling.

"N-no…It can't be…they must've got the wrong person…th-there are many Potters in this country" He said in denial

"Even if there are, I doubt there are too many Harry James Potters around" Ed replied

"It can't be…it just can't be…"

"Harry…Slytherin lived over a thousand years ago. As far as we know, it might be possible" Hermione said in a soft voice

"NO!" Harry snapped and Hermione jumped back "It's not possible! Voldemort and I can't be related!"

"But Harry…that could be the reason why the Sorting Hat almost put you in Slytherin, why you are a parselmouth, why you two are so alike and…" Hermione tried to console her friend

"And why he marked me as his equal right?" Harry snapped

"Yes" Hermione said in a whisper "It might be possible, and that's why you must become stronger Harry" She placed her hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Easy to say Mione, but you're forgetting that Slytherin was a cold-blooded murderer that left a basilisk so his descendant could kill muggleborn wizards, that his descendant has caused too much pain, that he also is a cold-blooded murderer…YOU'RE FORGETTING THAT SOME DAYS AGO I TRIED TO KILL ELRIC!"

As Harry said the last word, Edward moved pretty fast and hit Harry hard with his left -and temporarily only- hand, and Harry fell to the ground.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE THAT'S SUFFERED POTTER?! I'VE READ ENOUGH THESE FEW WEEKS TO KNOW THAT VOLDEMORT IS A COLD-BLOODED, SON-OF-A-BITCH MURDERER AND YOU'RE NOTHING LIKE HIM!" Ed reprimanded Harry

"But I tried to kill you, and you're forgetting that…if I AM a descendant of Slytherin…the blood of a murderer runs through my veins. How the hell are you so certain that in time I won't become another Voldemort?" Harry said, now in a normal voice

"And d'you think that just because I'm a descendant of Gryffindor I'm the bravest, the noblest and the wisest? Do you really think so?" Ed replied back

"Yeah, not for anything Dumbledore looked for you. Aren't you the 'Dog of the Military on the Side of the People'? You are a hero that carries the blood of a hero, whereas I am a potential murderer who carries the blood of a murderer and that's the truth" Harry said sadly.

Ed sighed "You're wrong Potter…I'm only paying for my sins" He replied in a low voice.

"Sins? What sins could you possibly carry?" Harry asked in disbelief

"Some… -sigh- some years ago our mother died. Al and I were young and naïve back then, we didn't understand the nature of life, even if we thought we did. One day we attempted to bring her back, resuscitate her…so we transmuted her, paying for it with my arm and my leg. Nevertheless, my mother never came back…in her place there was a…a… (At this point Ed's tears started running freely) a monster, we brought to life a monster that later took the shape of my mother! So tell me…am I really a saint? Am I really a hero? The blood of a hero runs through my veins, but I am a demon; you…you are a good man and wizard that carries the blood of a murderer. Blood has nothing to do with it…you of all people should know that…it's our choices that make us who we are and if…if you feel a great pain, pay for your sins by helping people that needs you the most"

"…E-Elric…" Harry was dumbstruck and couldn't utter a word. He could've thought many things about the alchemist in front of him, but never that.

"Harry…" Hermione said sobbing because of what she had just heard "do you remember who pulled Gryffindor's sword from the Sorting Hat? Do you remember that the whole Black family was in Slytherin but Sirius became a Gryffindor, living and dying as one? Harry…please don't let his and Dumbledore's sacrifices be in vain"

"Mione…I'm…I'm so sorry"

Ed dried his own tears and struggled to not shed any more "So the info's correct?"

"Almost…" Harry said fighting his own tears

"What Horcruxes do you know Potter?"

"Slytherin's locket, the Gaunt family ring, Voldemort's diary, Hufflepuff's cup, Nagini, Voldemort's snake, and Voldemort himself"

"That's six so far, we have to know what the seventh one is and find and destroy the rest, save for Voldemort"

"No" Harry said shaking his head "Not counting that bastard there's only three to go"

"How come?" Ed asked puzzled

"Because professor Dumbledore got rid of the one in the Gaunt ring and I destroyed the diary" Harry explained

"So we still have to research the remaining nine then?"

"No, only seven of those"

Ed gave an exasperated sigh "Why seven now?"

"Because Gryffindor's sword and the basilisk aren't Horcruxes, in fact I killed the basilisk five years ago"

"And they say I'm the biggest showoff around" Ed said

"I'm proud of it" Harry defended himself

"Winry, can you give me Hawkeye's letter?" Ed said in a half-commanding voice

"Only if you ask for it properly" Winry scolded

Ed rolled his eyes and sighed "Winry, can you PLEASE give me the letter?"

"See? Manners don't make you less brave" She reprimanded him while handing him the letter.

"So these are our targets" Ed said while crossing out non-target items from the list.

_Salazar Slytherin:_

_-Locket_

_-Family Ring_

_-Basilisk_

_Godric Gryffindor:_

_-Sword "Lion Fang"_

_-Shield "Dental Trance"_

_-Millenium Armor_

_Helga Hufflepuff:_

_-Cup_

_-Pocketwatch_

_-Winged shoes_

_Rowena Ravenclaw:_

_-Diadem_

_-Eyeglasses_

_-Telescope_

He also added

_Voldemort:_

_-Diary_

_-Nagini_

"That's right Elric" Harry said after checking the letter.

"We should also find the other descendants, they might know the location of any of the objects" Hermione suggested.

"Well, I bet Voldemort will surely help us as well as Lorena Malfoy who I bet as well is a Death Eater" Harry said sarcastically

Hermione rolled her eyes "I wasn't referring to those two, obviously, I was referring to Joshua and Hybris, I don't think they are Death Eathers"

"They maybe aren't, but we can't rule out the possibility" Winry commented

"She's right you know" Ed seconded.

There was a renewed silence, but this time it wasn't a disconcerted silence, on the contrary, they all knew the responsibility they were all bearing on their shoulders.

"Wow, what a year we're gonna have" Winry said, trying to lighten the mood.

"And you're not even counting studying for the N.E.W.T.s" Ron, who was entering the room in that very moment, added

"Don't help them Ron" Hermione scolded sarcastically "by the way…when did you get in?"

"Couple of minutes ago, heard something about the Horcruxes and…What's with you two?" Ron asked, since Harry and Ed were crouching in a dark corner with several blue flames floating around them (picture a depressed anime character there).

"_Wonder if I'll ever have a calm, carefree life"_ Ed mused

"_Would it have really been so bad if I had stayed at the Dursleys' and never ever learned about magic?" _Harry complained to himself

"Don't be so exaggerated! Look at Ron; he is Bill's best man, so he has to help organize the wedding, he as to learn to dance as well and get a partner for both the wedding and this year's Christmas ball and he isn't tense, in fact he is pretty relaxed" Hermione scolded them, but in an instant Ron had joined the other two at the corner.

"_Wonder if being a muggle would've been better"_

"WOULD YOU THREE PLEASE STOP BEING SUCH MARTYRS?!" Hermione and Winry yelled at the same time.

In that moment a healer entered the room. "Mr. Potter, you must go to your room, we'll be performing some tests on you briefly"

"Oh…sure, we'll be right there" Harry replied

"No" The healer said as soon as Ron and Hermione stood up to follow him "Just you, your friends can't go"

"It's OK Harry, Ron and I will go to the cafeteria to have some lunch and then we'll join you" Hermione told Harry

"Alright, see you later then"

Harry, Hermione and Ron left for their respective destinations, while Winry installed Ed's new automail. Two hours later Al stopped by to visit.

"How are you feeling today nii-san?"

"Much better, thanks. How about you Al, how's school?"

"Rather hurried, since I have to work for both of us"

"Knew it" Winry cried triumphantly

"Ah…well…you know…my nii-san…" Al tried to explain

"It's OK Al" Winry said giggling as the armor stammered "I'll go drop my homework at school, get a shower and be back, alright?"

"'K" Both Elric brothers replied.

When Winry left, Al asked "And how's Harry? Did he wake up already?"

"Yep, and I gotta tell you lots of stuff" Ed said on a lighter mood. He then started telling his brother what had happened that day, about the alliance, the Horcruxes and the heirs.

"Wow" Al mused "That complicates things a lot, nii-san"

"Tell me about it"

"By the way…" Al said while he extracted a piece of parchment from his bag. "Yesterday in the restricted section of the library I found a rather old book that mentioned the nine legendary weapons of the triumvirate"

"Huh? What triumvirate?" Ed asked his curiosity aroused.

"I don't know nii-san"

"Then why is it so important?" Ed asked puzzled

"There were several pages missing and on those that were there only two of the nine weapons were mentioned"

"And…?" Ed motioned his brother to continue

"They're called the 'Twin Swords', and each dominates an element"

"Sounds interesting" Ed said while he sat on the bed "We could use that for our History of Magic project"

"Umm…I didn't think about using it for a school project nii-san"

"Then why should we be interested in a couple of legendary weapons of some unknown triumvirate?"

"Because one of those swords belonged to King Arthur of Camelot, and the other one belonged to Godric Gryffindor"

Ed's face turned from puzzled to surprise in a blink "Wait a second! Those are the swords Dumbledore left Potter and me!"

"Precisely, perhaps he gave them to you so you could use them against Voldemort" Al exposed his theory.

"Yeah, but if that bastard finds the other seven…"

"He could be invincible" Al finished for him

Ed frowned and nodded with his eyes closed. "I see…" He then opened his eyes and gave his brother an encouraging smile "You found something really interesting Al"

"We should tell the others"

"No, not yet"

"But…nii-san"

"We're not telling them 'till we're certain it's true, we know what elements they control, how to use them and what and where the rest are" Ed said firmly.

"Excalibur controls light and Lion Fang controls darkness…we should at least tell Harry so he can learn to use it" Ed insisted

"No Al, we must confirm this first; they already have enough on their plates…this is between you and me, we'll do this as a team as usual"

"We're not telling even Winry?"

"Not until we know the whole truth and if they can be of use or not" Ed said shaking his head.

"Alright. I support you as always, nii-san. I'll go and write Mustang so he can send us information on the topic" Al said, getting up

"No." Ed said firmly "for some unknown reason he decided to send the information to Winry instead of me, and if she finds out, the rest will"

"But we can trust Winry, she's our childhood friend" Al argued

"It's not an issue of trust Al"

"Then what is it?" Al asked confused

"It's just that she can't lie. She's too naïve and doesn't know how to lie. Whenever she tries, anyone within a league can see she's lying, and if the rest notice, they'll suspect" Ed explained.

"But…-sigh- OK, I won't tell anyone, we'll do this our way, as usual"

In that moment Winry entered the room. She was wearing black jeans that hugged her figure perfectly, a black tank top that exposed her slender abdomen along with a navy blue jacket.

"What're you guys talking about?"

"Nii-san was telling me about what you found out in the morning. I was pretty shocked to find out we are descendants of Godric Gryffindor…and I still ended up in Hufflepuff, ironically" Al quickly covered

"Yeah, one of life's ironies, oh well…" Ed said

"Well, I better get going; I've still got a lot of homework. When are you getting released?"

"Dunno Al" Ed said shrugging

"Tomorrow; I already asked" Winry said at the same time

"See you tomorrow then nii-san, Winry" Al said as he headed for the door

"See you tomorrow Al" The other two replied as Al disappeared behind the door.

"Well Ed, it's dinnertime" Winry announced.

"Am I still eating tasteless food? 'Cause if I do, I rather wait till tomorrow" Ed said darkly

"Nope, I was allowed to bring you food from the outside…on one condition though" Winry said, getting a little nervous when she said the last part

"What is it?" Ed asked curious, thinking it would be children's play

"You'll see…I brought you a country salad, beef stew and a slice of three chocolate cake"

Ed's face contorted into a wide grin "Win…have I told you how much I love you?!"

Winry blushed, but shrugged "Yeah, I know I'm such an angel, but you better start eating"

Without needing to be told twice, Ed started eating, well…devouring (and almost choking more than once) and when he was done…

"That was simply delicious Win…dunno how could I repay you"

"Well, now the condition"

"Whatever" Ed said with his classical smirk

"You have to drink these pills…" She began

"Children's play"

"With this glass of milk" Winry finished

Winry then opened a thermos of hot milk and poured a glass. Ed was staring wide-eyed at the glass and saw how a pair of evil eyes appeared on it, along with a mouth that said "Drink me…I'm horrid!"

"NO!" Ed yelled

"Ed!" Winry scolded

"No way…that milk is looking at me with evil eyes" Ed said, acting like a small kid.

"How could a glass of milk be even looking at you?"

"Milk and I are sworn enemies…give me anything else and I'll gladly drink it"

"ED…DRINK THAT MILK…NOW!" Winry said

"But…"

"NOW!!" Winry commanded. At this point Ed didn't know what to fear more, the milk's evil eyes or Winry's hard, furious look. Admitting a lost battle, he took the pills and swallowed them with the glass of milk. When he was done, Ed's disgusted look was funnier than anything.

"Happy?" Ed asked

"Yes, now go to sleep" Winry said heading for the door that Ed closed with a swift wand movement.

"What did you just do?" Winry asked perplexed.

"You'll pay for that Win" Ed said with evil eyes and a smirk.

"And just what do you think you'll…" Winry began, but Ed quickly silenced her with a swift but deep kiss.

Winry returned the kiss and Ed took of her jacket and started attacking her neck.

"Ed…"

Ed ignored her and removed her shirt and bra while he led her to the bed. Winry decided not to fall behind and removed Ed's hospital gown, and since he was wearing nothing below it, he was just as he had arrived to this world. Ed started teasing, sucking and biting Winry's right nipple, while his other hand played with her other one. This made Winry let out several moans she was trying to suppress, but failed miserably. She then remembered where she was.

"Ed…wait" She said between moans

"Why wait?" Ed said softly

"If…if someone enters and…what if they see us?"

"You're my girlfriend, this is pretty normal at our age" Ed said while he caressed her cheek with his flesh and bone hand

"But…" She said trying to refuse

"Potter's busy chatting with Hermione, Al's at Hogwarts and the healer won't come by till tomorrow" He said, running his hand along her exposed skin

"…Ed…"

"So what will it be? Should I stop or should I continue?" Ed said while removing her knickers

"I say don't you dare stop"

Ed smirked "You're a bad girl and will receive your punishment right now…_Muffliato_"

**A/N.-Whoo!! So, did you like it? (If you didn't please don't flame us, thanks!). Hope you don't mind the cliffie, cuz it'll stay like that, this won't become an M rated fic...gomen if wanted it to be. From now on I dunno if I'll update fast or slow, it'll depend on my other fic and my friggin school, thank you (Yeah, finally after 3 more chaps by Ferchoumaru I get to write again, yipee!!).**


	7. Friend or Foe?

**A/N.- -pops his head from behind a bullet shield- Hello, here's the new chappie...finally. Try to combine a writer's block, a work-charged semester and several near-nervous breakdowns and what you get? No writing! So that's what happened, don't kill me K? Better enjoy**

_Disclaimer: JKR owns Harry Potter and H. Arakawa owns FMA...sadly_

**Chapter 7.- Friend or Foe?**

Next day Harry and Ed were given the OK to go, signed by Lupin, who asked Harry to talk with him for a couple of minutes before returning to Hogwarts. Harry agreed without doubting so they headed for the cafeteria.

On the cafeteria, Lupin caught Harry off guard enveloping him in a firm, manly hug, letting a couple of tears run.

"I'm so glad you're OK Harry…-sob-…for a moment I was…afraid…of losing you, just as I lost James, Lily and Sirius…you and Tonks are the only family I have now so…so…don't you dare risk your life again for another stupid thing like that!"

"I…sorry, I…didn't…know what I was doing…I was blinded by rage" Harry stammered as an apology

"I know, that's normal between friends, and even the best of friends at that"

"But I tried to kill him…KILL HIM!"

Remus let out a small chuckle "If you ever saw James and Sirius fight…it seemed like they hated each other even if they were the best of friends…I have to admit they never tried using those curses, but they had a great heart, just like you two…I only ask you not to risk your life like that again"

"Yeah…I know" Harry replied, feeling ashamed

"Promise" Lupin said, more like an order than like a favor

"I promise"

"Good"

After a moment of silence, Harry decided to take advantage of the moment "Can you give me some advice?"

"Sure Harry, how can I help you?"

"It's…it's about women" Harry said, blushing deep crimson

Lupin frowned for a moment "Take a seat Harry, I'll go get a couple of chocolates and cake slices…I guess we'll need them"

Harry found a two-seat table and sat down, a couple of minutes later Lupin arrived with two large cups of chocolate and two slices of three-milk cake.

"Tell me Harry, what do you want to know?"

"Is it bad or…dirty-minded to be in love with two girls at the same time?"

Lupin meditated for a moment "Actually, it's impossible to be in love with two women at the same time"

"But…if it ever happened?" Harry pressed

"It never does" Lupin insisted, then he thought for a moment before saying "Maybe you like one of them because of her physical, mental or spiritual attributes, she might even be the perfect girl, the one you always dreamed about and wished for, but your heart belongs to another one…even if she's the complete opposite"

"But how can I know with which one am I really in love with?"

"Only you can figure that one out Harry, there's no magic, alchemic or muggle formula to just know"

"In other words, it's the one that makes me have butterflies in the stomach or feel nervous when she's near…is that the one I love?"

"Maybe" Lupin frowned "That completely depends on you Harry"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked puzzled, after all, that's what he had always heard

"Listen, what you just describe is just a stereotype, the sensations actually vary with each person…personally, I think the right one is the one around whom you feel safe, even if you're the one that protects her"

"Oh" Harry finally began to understand a bit more

"I would like to continue chatting with you Harry, but we have to return to Hogwarts" Lupin interrupted, taking a look at his pocket watch

"So you then…"

"That's right, I took the job"

"Finally, we'll be taught some decent stuff" Harry said grinning

"Yeah right…" Lupin said laughing a bit "Actually I took the job to be closer to all of you"

"Even better"

"Harry…I the only think I ask of you is to not play with their feelings"

"I'd never do something like that" Harry replied, a little angry that Lupin ever suspected him of being able to do such thing

"Good, let's get going then"

------------------------------------------------------------

Returning to the always busy Hogwarts, they all continued their homework and their usual duties and also researched as much as they could about the possible Horcruxes and heirs. Being Ed, Al, Winry and Hermione the ones that usually finished their homework first, they were the ones to do the most research.

One day Hermione arrived to their working table in the library and dropped a rather heavy tome on it that startled Ron and Harry (who were falling asleep), the latter aimed the wand at Hermione's chest.

"Oh…s-sorry Hermione" Harry stammered while lowering his wand

"If you used those reflexes in a duel instead, you'd have an incredible advantage…anyway…" Hermione replied "I found this little one in the restricted section"

"Little?" Ron asked sarcastically and…let's just say that if looks could kill, he would already be ten feet under.

"And what is it about?" Ed asked with interest

Hermione said nothing, instead she found the index, then turned to the page she needed and before all of them, there was a green and silver blazon with a snake on it

"Slytherin's family tree" Hermione said simply.

Everyone present started following the twisting lines until they reached the very bottom, finding first the line linking "Merope Gaunt to Tom Riddle" and the double line coming down from them to the name "Tom Marvolo Riddle". Immediately afterwards, everyone started looking for the name "James Potter" (Harry was praying to every available saint for it not to be there) and there it was, joined to the name "Lily Evans" and below them, linked by a double line, the name "Harry James Potter"

"So it's true then…" Harry said heavily

"So it seems…although you're not even close, you're somewhat like his tenth cousin or something like that" Ed said, turning to the page with the Gryffindor family tree on it. When he found it, everyone followed the web of lines and names until Winry's eyes spotted the name "Trisha Hayter" joined by a single line to the name "Hohenheim Elric" and below them, the names "Edward Elric" and "Alphonse Elric"

"Wow…who would've imagined it" Winry said astonished

"Nii-san, how come mom was a witch and we never found out?" Al asked confused while his older brother shrugged

"Haven't the faintest Al, never saw her do any magic" Ed replied

"Figured as much, or you would have had a stretching jinx on you long ago, pipsqueak" Harry teased

"What…did you…just…say?!" Ed replied with flames in his eyes

"You heard me"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT YOU WANT TO CAST A STRETCHING JINX ON HIM?!"

"Well you of course"

"I'LL KILL YOU POTTER!"

"And there they go again…will there ever be a day they don't try to kill each other?" Ron asked naïvely

Before he could jump on Harry, Ed noticed another name on the near-bottom of the page "Joshua Fernando Gryffindor" he mumbled, then spoke normally "That's the goy we have to find isn't he?"

"One of 'em, but that's a start…I didn't know the Gryffindor surname still existed" Ron added

"There's the interesting thing Ron" Hermione said

"Huh? What d'you mean?"

"Trisha Hayter's parents are Maximilian Hayter and Marine Gryffindor"

"So Ed and Al are direct descendants of Godric Gryffindor…" Winry finished, pretty shocked

"And that's not all"

"What do you mean?" Al asked nervously

"Look carefully, Marine Gryffindor is the daughter of Albert Gryffindor and Eugenia Watson, who had another son, Charles Gryffindor, who married Alicia Granillo, and they had a son themselves, Chrono Gryffindor, who married as well, and had a son: Joshua Fernando Gryffindor" Hermione explained carefully, while her finger pointed to the names as she spoke.

"So Chrono Gryffindor and mom were cousins, which makes Joshua our second cousin" Ed deduced

Everyone was dumbstruck, since they never imagined the Elric brothers would be direct descendants of Gryffindor, and even less, cousins of Joshua

"That doesn't explain why mom didn't use magic though" Al reasoned

"Maybe she was a squib" Ron rapidly suggested

"What's that Ron?"

"Sons of wizards that can't perform magic" he explained

Winry simply arched an eyebrow before retrieving LT. Hawkeye's letter from her bag

"Well, he seems he's the only one though, the rest of the heirs all have different surnames"

"Can I see the letter Winry?" Harry asked politely

"Sure" She replied while giving Ed a 'See, he IS polite' look.

After giving the letter a quick read and forcing himself to remember, Harry frowned "Hybris Raftalia Black…I don't recall seeing that name at Sirius's house, nor a burn showing he had been disowned.

"Another unsolved mystery? Hope this one's easier than that goddamned cookbook and chasing our tails to no end" Ed said

Harry sighed "Wish this was easier…one riddle is enough" (A/N.- Voldemort's surname is Riddle for those that don't know)

"Harry, since when have things been easier for us?" Hermione asked with irony

"Dunno…since never perhaps?" Harry replied sarcastically, but with no offending intention, which Hermione knew.

"Another thing we have in common, our lives haven't been easier either, at least since dad left" Al added

"Don't mention it" Ed nodded

"Oh well, water under the bridge now…we better focus on how are we going to find the other heirs and horcruxes"

"By the way…what was this book doing in the restricted section? I mean, it's just a family tree book isn't it?" Winry asked curiously

"I thought the same, but I suppose some headmaster must've had his reasons to do so" Hermione replied shrugging

"Surely it was to prevent blood-obsessed freaks like Voldemort and traitors like Snape from finding out" Harry said

"In fact I doubt Snape's a traitor as you so often preach Potter" Ed corrected in the most neutral tone

"What are you suggesting Elric? He killed Dumbledore!" Harry replied with rage

"And you're so sure there's nothing behind Dumbledore's death?" Ed questioned

"Why do you say that Elric?" Harry's rage turned into confusion

"Tell me Potter, besides you and Snape, who else knew about Dumbledore's ailment?"

"No one"

"Well, from what we've heard, Dumbledore was telling you about Voldemort's past so you could know his train of thoughts and get an advantage right?"

"That's right" Harry said, not sure what to make of this

"Well, basing ourselves on that, Al and I made several theories…will you be able to listen to them without interrupting us?"

A small pause, joined by a sepulchral silence was made, but after that, everyone agreed and as a security measure, Winry cast _Muffliato_.

"Well, supposing Snape was a traitor indeed, he would've surely informed Voldemort about Dumbledore's ailment and about the 'lessons' he gave Potter. Dumbledore, as old and ailing as he was, would've gone down from being Zeus, God of Gods, to an insignificant nuisance; let's make a quick parenthesis here to point out the fact that Voldemort admired Dumbledore for years, and he learned a lot from him, including the form and structure of his thoughts, so Dumbledore knew, or at least had a general idea of how Voldemort thought and vice-versa; after that we can tell that that was possibly the only think stopping Voldemort, since probably Dumbledore was teaching Potter how to think and reason, so Potter would become the new threat. It would already be late to stop that. If Malfoy killed Dumbledore, Potter would already know how to think from Voldemort's possible point of view, or at least, the first gear would've started moving…which is the real situation…so instead, the best choice would be for Malfoy to kill Potter, so Dumbledore would lose his savior and he wouldn't risk anyone else anymore. He would try to destroy him by himself, but being old and weak, he would be a sitting duck.

Now, if Snape was loyal to Dumbledore, he never informed Voldemort about the ailment or the private sessions, so Voldemort, overconfident as he is, sends Malfoy to kill Dumbledore, thinking that without the old man, he would have a clear path since Potter would've lost his guardian, and he wouldn't be of concern. He would only try to kill him to avenge Lily, his mother, but being this an easy task, Voldemort would make him suffer by torturing and killing his beloved ones only to kill him later in public. This would create panic, with Dumbledore, the mightiest wizard in the world, and Harry Potter, the "Chosen One" dead, no one would dare oppose him.

But, Voldemort wouldn't count with the Elric brothers joining the Order of the Phoenix, know by the world as two powerful alchemists that apart of their great power, they've never used the same strategy, that is to say, he doesn't know how they think. He would've to create thousands of hypotheses and scenarios to know what tare they thinking and what will they do. Potter's movements would be unpredictable and he would have to either follow us with a maximum probability of 1 out of 1000 of finding out our next move, or assemble an army. The answer's obvious: He will assemble his army since he doesn't know when will the snake become a dragon"

"So…Snape is our ally…" Harry concluded skeptically a minute after Ed finished explaining his theories.

"Maybe…it's just a theory…a theory that is in or near the truth" Ed said shrugging.

"Bloody hell! How in the world did you deduce that in such a short amount of time?" Ron asked impressed.

"That's my job, I live from that" Ed replied simply

"Well, I guess you forgot one teensy detail Elric"

"Really? What is it Potter?"

"Voldemort and I are linked. He can easily read and control my mind…he can find out every one of our moves" Harry said darkly, only to be interrupted by Ed's uncontrolled laughter. "What's so funny Elric?" He asked angrily

"Damn, you really need to be told everything word by word don't you?" Ed said after controlling himself. "Tell me, why do you think Dumbledore left those swords to us?"

"Dunno, 'cause they're some fantastic weapons I guess" Harry replied, not sure of the true reason behind Dumbledore's decision.

"Nope, the reason is that as long as you own 'Lion Fang' and I own 'Excalibur', you, I and those that frequently surround us, like Hermione, Al and Winry, are immune to legilimency, the _Cruciatus_ and the _Imperius_ curses…an amazing power don't you think?"

He left Harry pondering that until minutes later he got up, stretched and said "Well, I'm going to the Room of Requirement…in fact, It'd be nice if you joined me Potter"

Ron turned to look at Ed with an expression that clearly said he had misinterpreted the invitation.

"What the hell are you gonna do there?!"

The comment earned him a book direct to the head thrown by Hermione (lucky for him it was not the family book they were checking earlier, but a rather thinner textbook).

"Ronald, you're a pervert!"

"That was just a joke! Man, this hurts!"

Harry merely arched an eyebrow and turned to look at Ed "What do you want me to go for?"

Ed shrugged "Just thought it'd be useful for you to learn to handle 'Lion Fang', I guess there's more to them than what we already know. After all, Dumbledore left them to us for some reason"

Harry thought for a moment before agreeing "You're right, let's go. Wanna come?" He asked the rest.

"No, I'll research this a bit more" Hermione said without ungluing her eyes from the book she had started reading a while ago.

"I'll stay as well" Winry seconded, but then whispered so only Al could hear her "Go with them, I don't want them to kill each other with those blades"

The suit of armor nodded and joined the other two in the hope of not having to behold them trying to kill each other and intervening.

As soon as they were alone, Winry quirked an eyebrow and asked Hermione "So…what's between you and Harry?"

Hermione's stomach did a triple backflip before she could blush and stammer "W-what are you talking about?"

"Don't play fool with me; you know what I'm talking about"

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on Potter! You're supposed to defend yourself!" Ed yelled after a couple of hours of trying to teach Harry how to swordfight.

"Damn it Elric, I'm not Superman! I got physical limits" Harry replied, barely managing to gather the strength to parry Ed's rather slow blows.

"What am I, a Demon?" Ed asked sarcastically "There's supposed to be ways to enhance your resistance and strength, but I guess you're completely unaware of them…I'll teach you how some day, it's not that hard"

"Nii-san, don't be so hard on him" Al intervened before things got nasty "He hasn't endured Izumi's training, he's not at your level"

Ed thought about that for a moment before offering a sympathetic smile to Harry "Sorry Potter, sometimes I tend to forget the strenuous training regime I suffered from Izumi, you can leave now if you want to"

"Why, thanks" Harry said panting "I'll go and see if the girls…I mean, I doubt Ron's actually researching…have managed to find something about Gryffindor, Black or the horcruxes" He then headed for the changing rooms the Room made to don his robes and remove the sweaty clothes he was wearing.

"I'll catch up later; I'll train with Al a bit more" Ed said when Harry returned and headed for the exit.

Harry nodded and disappeared behind the door that led to the seventh floor corridor while Ed looked at Excalibur in interest and wonder.

"A rather curious sword indeed…I mean, it's definitely got magic; I couldn't even transmute it to dull the edge temporarily" Ed said amazed, more to himself than to his brother

"I assumed as much nii-san, but at this pace, you and Harry won't be able to use the swords at a 100 percent" Al noted "Let's pray Harry learns that technique quickly"

Ed nodded "Yeah, although I would more easily expect a feat like that from Hermione than from him"

"Yeah, I guess Harry got more power, more raw magic, but Hermione's better at channeling it to do her bidding, she's got more control on her power" Al analyzed.

"Guess so…anyway, let's see what else can we find about this sword"

"Umm…nii-san, what are we gonna do about the other weapons? If other wizards are in possession of them, they'll have the same protections we have"

"Yeah, it's highly probable there's seven warriors out there"

"Warriors?"

"The book said there were nine weapons of some triumvirate, it means there were three great kingdoms, or countries, or governments, or something like that…so there were three weapons per each"

"Three weapons…three kingdoms…three wielders…perhaps three protections" Al summarized.

**A/N.- Well, not so much to say but REVIEW!!!!!! And recommend the fic if you liked it**


	8. Doubts

**A/N.- Hallo! Phew, after a little over a year, we finally got this sodding chapter done (it was actually ready about 3 months ago, but friggin college doesn't even give me time to think of anything else, much less translate or write fanfics), so, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Another one is all ready, I just have to translate it.**

Disclaimer: We own nothing notorious here, just a couple of spells, that's it. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and FullMetal Alchemist to Hiromu Arakawa

**Chapter 8.- Doubts**

_"If we begin with certainties, we shall end in doubts; but if we begin with doubts, and we are patient in them, we shall end in certainties."_

_Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)_

It was a sunny day, with a small refreshing breeze running through the grounds of Hogwarts. Leaves could be found everywhere, from the branches of trees to the grass, painting everything in sunset colors. Gnomes ran around Hagrid's backyard. And despite all of this beauty surrounding the castle, there was something missing: life. Since the passing of Albus Dumbledore, no laughter was heard, no couples of students cuddled together along the banks of the lake, figures flying all around the Quidditch pitch were now just memories from the past, not even the pleas of a scared first year being bullied by older Slytherins could be heard; most of the students were now within the castle walls, frightened. Hogwarts now seemed more a prison than a school.

Every morning the Daily Prophet brought even worse news: witches and wizards missing everywhere, muggles found dead, tortured into madness or even dismembered, larger and more frequent breakouts from Azkaban and all of the Ministry's efforts to censor the situation were more futile with every passing day.

Muggleborn children were frightened; the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was upside down… all of this could very well be summarized into one hell of a chaos.

But all of that didn't matter to two young men that battled each other with swords every single day since three weeks ago. These youngsters were Harry Potter and Edward Elric.

To the right Ed was dressed in black sweatpants and trainers as old and tattered as his pants, or even more, his chest was bare. On the opposite side Harry was dressed more or less the same, except his sweatpants were older and bigger, being hand-me-downs from his beloved cousin Dudley, but unlike the year before, Harry wasn't pale and skinny anymore, now he was more toned, with a couple of abs starting to show, as well as more defined pectorals, his arms weren't a couple of spaghettis anymore, but were gaining more volume, and his usually pale skin was now darker, giving him a tanned look.

After training with Edwards for weeks, results were beginning to show for Harry, and not only physically, now his swordfighting skills were remarkable.

"Come on Potter! Don't tell me you've reached your limit" Ed taunted him, laughing.

"I'm defeating you today Elric, and will keep Excalibur for doing it"

"I wanna see you try"

They resumed their duel, while a small group of people observed from the upper level catwalks.

"Wow! Harry sure has improved" Neville exclaimed in awe.

"Yep, now he's stronger and far more skilled with his swords" Ginny stated proudly.

"Swords? "Ron asked confused "Last time I checked he only had one"

"I wasn't only referring to Gryffindor's Sword, Ron"

"Then?!" Ron still didn't seem to get it

"…then I'll just say Harry is quite a man" Ginny said winking

"B-but…WHAT?! So you two have…but…when? And…you're still too young Ginny!" Ron tried to explain stammering.

"Jeez…you're acting as if it was a bad thing"

"It IS! You're still too young" Ron said, cuttingly.

"But it's way too good…wait, don't tell me…RON! You're jealous of Harry and I because we've had more fun than you!" Ginny replied mockingly

"OF COURSE NOT!" Ron replied a little too quickly

"If you had a couple of bricks instead of that belly of yours, things would be a little different, don't you think?"

"This… err… it's mum's fault… she cooks such delicious food and… there's been no Quidditch practices lately"

"Uh huh, and that there's less students, hence more dessert for you, has nothing to do with it?" Hermione backed Ginny

"But… I'm already taking measures to make it go"

"Yeah…all the way down to your knees"

Everyone on the catwalk laughed hard at the comment, while Ron's ears turned the color of his hair.

"Physical appearances aren't the most important part" Ron replied hastily

"Nope, but us women like to feel protected, to be held tightly and to hold them tightly as well, right Hermione?" Ginny said, while Hermione just blushed, unable to say a thing.

They kept laughing for a while, teasing each other and joking, while they watched Ed and Harry fight; there was no doubt that the presence of the Elric brothers hade brought back some of the peace and tranquility that had been missing since three years ago.

All of a sudden a sword fell to the floor with a clang; Harry was down on the ground with the tip of Excalibur millimeters from his throat.

"I think I won again Potter" Ed said smirking

"Yeah, because light blinded me for a moment" Harry defended himself

"Yeah right… had I wished for it, you'd be dead. In combat you must use everything within your reach to fight, in reality you live or die, that's it."

Ed sheathed his sword and approached Al, who threw a towel and his shirt his way. When he was clothed again and ready to leave, Neville stopped him and Harry.

"Harry, I was wondering if… if you'd be teaching us again this year"

"Huh?!" Ed interjected confused.

"In case we need to fight… you know, the DA… we have to be prepared… also the Ministry authorized the use of unforgivables in case of emergency and… well… I was wondering if we could practice them like before… we know you've been given permission to do so. Neville explained

"I dunno Neville, it's too dangerous and I don't want to endanger you… not yet again" Harry replied.

"You know that the members of the DA will stand by your side so… if you're going to fight V-Vo-Vol… if you're going to fight V-VOLDEMORT! … we'll go with you, even if we give our lives for it… so I think it'll be better if we're prepared, don't you think?"

"I… I don't want to endanger any of you, it's too risky. Please understand, Voldemort is terrible beyond human comprehension" Harry argued.

Yes, it's true, but as long as you're alive and kicking, there'll be a glimpse of hope for the light, and we'll gladly give our lives if necessary to get rid of him once and for all, or else more children will end up like us" Neville replied, referring to himself, Harry and Ed "And I don't want that… you understand that, don't you?"

"I'll think about it… let's all go to Hogsmeade today and I will tell you tomorrow, is that okay with you?"

"Sure, I'll warn the rest and… Harry… We want you… all of you… to go to the Room of Requirement, there's something we have to tell you… we'll see you there at 9, and you can't skip it for anything" Neville said this and left.

"Harry, what's the DA? Something like the Order of the Phoenix?" Al asked.

"Yeah, something like that" Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny explained them everything concerning the DA, while they headed for Hogsmeade.

-----------------------------------------------

Upon their arrival to the small wizarding village, they noticed a mood even more funereal than that in Hogwarts. Many aurors patrolled up and down the streets, and the amount of students that were allowed or willing to visit had been cut down to less than half. Also, the farther they went into the village, the more they became the center of attention.

"Harry, Ginny and I are going to the robe shop, where should we rendezvous?" Hermione asked.

"Dunno…what about the Hog's Head?" Harry asked.

"Ok, we'll meet there in an hour"

Hermione and Ginny were about to leave when they heard someone call.

"WAIT FOR ME!!!" It was Winry

"Hey, we thought you weren't coming" Ginny said as a greeting.

"Sorry… I got distracted… cutting some alloys… and I lost… track of time" Winry replied, catching her breath.

"Don't worry, you're just in time" Luna replied

After this, the girls and boys parted ways, and a while later Ed and Al started to sidetrack.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked them.

"There's some business we need to attend. We'll meet you at the Hog's Head" Ed replied, and without further ado they left.

"Well, let's go pick up our dress robes, and then let's go to Honeydukes for some chocolate frogs. I'm 10 cards short of the whole collection you know" Ron said proudly.

"Let's go then. Getting a couple of butterbeers would be another nice idea, since we'll be needing them a lot pretty soon" Harry added

Ron groaned rather loudly "Don't even remind me of the NEWTs"

---------------------------------------

Luna, Ginny, Hermione and Winry had sidetracked on their way to the shop and headed to the post office. Receiving things there was unusual for a wizard, given the common use of owls, but the parcels they would be picking up weren't too common for wizards either.

"Good afternoon!" Winry greeted the clerk cheerily

"Good evening young lady, what can I do for you?" The clerk, a somewhat small, bald and with a large moustache asked her.

"We're here to pick up a special delivery, here's the delivery number for the parcel the owl brought here." She said while she handed a piece of paper to the clerk.

"Oh yes! Please wait for me here" The clerk instructed the girls while he headed to the back of the office, returning ten minutes with four wrapped parcels.

"Here you go, it'll be four galleons" Winry gave the man four golden and took the parcels.

"Are you sure of this Winry?" Ginny asked

"Of course I am! In how many wizarding weddings have you seen these? We'll be the center of attention!" Winry replied excitedly.

"And just how are we going to bring the parcels into our dorms without anyone finding out?" Luna asked.

"Easy, I cast an undetectable expansion charm at my purse, we'll keep them there." Hermione, always the planner, answered.

"You're awesome Hermione!" Ginny complimented the brunette girl.

"That's nothing. We'll then, let's go to the Hog's Head, and not a word about these, they ought to be a surprise" Hermione warned, indicating at the parcels.

"Yes!" The other girls chorused while they left for the Hog's Head to wait for the boys.

-------------------------------------

After splitting up with the others, Al and Ed headed to the village blacksmith. Once inside a tall, strong, bald man welcomed them.

"Good evening! How may I help you?"

"Good evening. I am Edward Elric, do you have the materials I requested about a month ago?"

"Elric?" The man raked his brains for the name "Oh I remember. Of course I do, but they weren't an easy catch, and it'll cost you extra. Also, I think I ought to have a word with your father, after all, I mustn't sell dragon teeth to a child"

"You can't you say? Pity…I was planning on leaving here this bag full of galleons as a tip for your excellent service…ah, I guess I'll have to get my materials somewhere else" Ed said, juggling a bag from hand to hand that jingled with every move.

"Well… " The blacksmith gave a nervous laugh "I guess we all need some protection these days… also, the Ministry has worse concerns that a couple of dragon teeth"

"Sir, I don't want to cause you any trouble"

"Trouble? None at all, after all, I can say you needed them for a school research, just give me the name of a professor of yours and we're settled"

"What would you need the name of a professor for?"

"Well, in case someone comes here asking, I can always say a professor of yours asked for them and we're all free of trouble"

"Bad choice… " Ed said, smirking "I guess I'll have to report this to the Auror Corps, after all, what makes you think I'm not a Death Eater? _Tut tut_, I think it is my duty as State Alchemist to ensure the law is followed, and more even as a diplomatic guest of the Minister's" Ed said, now fiddling with his silver pocketwatch, letting the man get a glimpse of the State Alchemists crest on it. The blacksmith was now getting too nervous and sweating cold, until Al spoke.

"But nii-san, it'd be a pity for this man to end in Azkaban, I mean, he's sure to have a family to take care of."

"So what do we do then Al?"

"Wait, Mr. Elric, there's no need to call the aurors in, I'm just a humble blacksmith that tries to earn some gold… something tougher everyday. My profession is not often needed for wizards, they have goblins to do that, and in these dark times much less, since every day less people dare leave their homes. How about I offer you a discount?"

"A discount?"

"Yes, yes, you only pay for the teeth and the rest is on me, and worry not about the ministry, I can always tell them I lost the metals and teeth on the way back from getting them, no need for anyone to be harmed."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Alright, I'll take it only because you seem to be a hard working man, but I'll be watching you"

"Yes, yes, of course, let me go fetch your order" The blacksmith said, going for the materials meant for Ed. "Let's see, here's the dragon teeth, Hungarian Horntail, hard to get, a bar of titanium, silver from the Manchester cathedral and a vial with 4 ounces of iridium, that would add up to 980 galleons, but I'll leave it at 400, what do you say?"

"Fine, here's 450, but remember, I'll be watching you" Ed paid while Al took the wooden box that contained their materials and they left.

"Have a good day Misters Elric"

And so Ed and Al left for a small patch of wood on the outskirts of the village.

"Nii-san, I still think what you did to that poor blacksmith was really unfair"

"Maybe, but we only had 500 galleons, and there are no nearby banks for us to withdraw more money and exchange it for wizarding currency, even less if it is money from Amestris" Ed defended himself, but Al wouldn't yield. "Ok, ok, as soon as we receive our next pay from Mustang I'll give him the rest, happy?"

"Now I am" Al finally said happily, while Ed cursed under his breath.

When they were deep enough in the woods, Ed and Al drew a transmutation circle on the ground and placed the materials on its center, then they transmuted them.

"All done! He won't be able to complain, it's perfect. Do you have the box Al?"

"Here" Al said, passing a small red box to his brother.

With their job now done, they were about to leave when Ed heard a sound coming from some trees behind them. Al put the box away safely inside his armor and placed himself on a defensive stance.

"Who's there? Identify yourself!" Ed called, wand in hand.

"Easy there, we come in peace." Two figures in black appeared in front of the boys.

"My name is Lorena Deyanira Malfoy"

"And I am Bellatrix Lestrange"

"MALFOY?! You're related to that idiot?"

"Unfortunately" Both witches said in unison.

"But don't let the reputation of my idiot of a nephew besmirch ours" Bellatrix said

"What do you want?" Ed asked

"We have a message from our lord" Bellatrix began

"He wants you to join him and his noble cause. If you do you will be well rewarded." Lorena continued

"And why is he so interested in me?" Ed asked incredulous.

"My lord has heard of your great skills and he wants the same as you"

"Killing innocents for fun?" Ed asked now skeptically

"Those are small sacrifices for the greater good" Bellatrix said.

"He doesn't want the wise and just to die. He wants a world ruled by them, where the scholars will be respected and not looked down at, and then he heard of you: Edward Elric, a young man that earned the title of State Alchemist at 12, who knows death far closer than most, who has lived and seen wars and intervened to stop them. With a great potential limited by the laws of society, a society that sees great knowledge as taboo, that settles for surviving one more day, without complications, or a hunger for deeper knowledge." Lorena explained.

"And just why does that idiot think I'm interested in joining him and not in bringing him down, like I've done with several fakes and phonies like him?"

"Because he know that the day you two failed at bringing back you beautiful and beloved mother, you and your brother formed a bond like no one before" Bellatrix said

"And if you join him he'll give you a great power: the real philosopher's stone. Not the fake one created with human lives, but the one made by pure alchemy and magic. With it you can give your mother her life back, and regain all that you lost that fateful night."

"_Al's body_" Ed thought.

"And as proof of his good will, he sends you two gifts. This is the first one" Bellatrix said, handing Ed a package wrapped in black paper.

"And you're supposing that I'll just say 'yes, of course I'll go with you right away, seeing as I don't give a shit about muggles and wizards dying and can become all-powerful'? Ha!" Ed said sarcastically

"That's what the second gift is about: my lord grants you all the time you need to decide. So, in case you wish to side with those that seek knowledge and justice, you just aim your wand at your arm and say _morsmordre_, and you will find yourself at my lord's side immediately. That said, we take our leave and expect you there soon" Lorena said, and a second later, the two witches apparated away.

"What could this be?" Ed mused, making to open the package.

"Don't open it nii-san! What if it is a trap?"

"Had they wanted to kill me, we'd be fighting right now Al- Ed replied, ripping off the paper and finding an old, tattered book written in odd symbols and titled "The tales of Beedle the Bard"

"A fairytale book?" Al asked skeptically.

"So it seems. Look, this seems to be written in runes, and looks way old"

Not saying anything else, the Elrics headed to the Hog's Head.

"--------------------------------------------

When they arrived at the Hog's Head, the girls were already there, with a bottle of butterbeer each.

"ED! Over here!" Winry called, waving.

"Hey, how did it go? And what's that?" ED asked, eyeing the drink in Winry's hand.

"It's called butterbeer, and it's delicious, here, try some" Winry said.

"Ah…alright"

Ginny walked to the counter "Can I have two more butterbeers please?"

"Oh, I won't have one, thanks, I just ate and I'm not hungry or thirsty" Al stammered.

"Oh well, then make that seven butterbeers please" The bartender nodded and handed her seven new bottles that she and Al carried over to the table, arriving in time to hear Winry say

"We did good, we ordered our dresses already, they're arriving directly to Ginny's home"

"How are they?" Ed asked curious.

"It's a surprise" Winry replied cheekily, winking. "How did it go for you?"

"Perfect…look, there's Harry and Ron"

"All done? Let's go back then" Ron said

"We've been allowed until 5 o'clock, there's time for one more round" Hermione replied.

"C'mon Ron, we could use a butterbeer" Harry said

"Well, well, what've you got there?" Ron asked Ed, noticing the old book the blond had under his arm

"Oh…this…I found it at a shop and bought it for 5 galleons. I thought there could be something useful in its symbols" Ed lied

"Let me see it please" Hermione asked, and Ed gave her the book.

The tales of Beedle the Bard… ever heard of them" Hermione said

"You've never heard the tales of Beedle the Bard?" Ron asked incredulously "You're kidding, right?

"No, I'm not" Hermione said surprised "Do you know them?

"Of course I do!"

Ron arched an eyebrow, surprised and amused. Ron knew a book Hermione didn't? That was unprecedented. Ron, on the other hand, seemed stunned by the surprise of the others.

"Oh come on! All of the children's tales are supposed to be included in Beedles book: "The Fountain of Fair Fortune," "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot," "Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump…"

"Sorry?" Hermione said, snickering "What was that last one?"

"Oh come on" Ron said, looking at Harry and Hermione incredulously "You must've heard about Babbity Rabbitty…"

"Ron, you very well know Harry and I were raised by muggles!" Hermione replied "We didn't hear stories like that when we were small, we heard "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" and "Cinderella…"

"What's that, an illness?" Ron asked

"So they are children's tales?" Hermione asked, leaning on the runes.

"Yes" Ron said uncertainly "I mean, what you just heard, you know, all those old tales come from Beedle. I guess this is like a first edition or something"

"Well, I don't think they'll help us in our mission Elric" Harry said amused.

"Never underestimate a book Potter, after all, the secret to the philosopher's stone was hidden in a book of recipes" Ed argued back.

"Well, it seems the store clerk was an ignorant…selling the original print in 5 galleons…that's what I call stupidity"

"Of course"

They kept joking for another hour in the pub before heading back for the castle, resting for a moment and then heading for the room of requirement, at Neville's request.

----------------------------------------------

"I don't see any room" Ed pointed out, looking left and right for a door.

-Well, we have to wait for Neville… look, here he comes" Harry announced

-Hey guys, wait a moment, Harry, we're going to blindfold you"

"What?!"

"Just do it!" They all chorused and Harry obliged. Neville made the door appear, and when they entered the room, everybody cried out

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!"

"Wha…but…it's not my birthday!"

"With everything that's happened, we never had the chance to celebrate it, so we decided to do it now that we got the chance… better late than never, right?"

The room was filled by Neville, Dean, Seamus, Ginny, Luna, Ron, Ed and Al. Harry couldn't hold back the tears that threatened, he was put in front of a small pumpkin cake, a roasted turkey and other food.

-Time for presents!- Neville announced.

Dean gave him a Firebolt 2007, Seamus gave him "_Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm A Witch_", Ron and Ginny gave him a gold pocket watch ("A Weasley tradition" Ron explained), Hermione gave him a new Sneakoscope, Luna gave him a revised version of "_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_", and finally it was the turn of the Elric brothers and Winry.

"Happy birthday Harry!" Winry said cheerily, hugging him.

"Thanks Winry!" She then gave him her present: some kind of locket, but divided into 12 page-like divisions.

"For you to place the pictures that make you the happiest so you never forget there's people here who love you"

"Win, thank you" He said smiling, clasping it around his neck by himself.

"Happy birthday four-eyes" Ed said, handing him a small red box.

"Thank you Edwarf" Harry replied, opening the box, to reveal a necklace with a peculiar pendant.

"What's this?"

"A symbol of our alchemy style, see" Ed said, showing him the back of his cloak and the seal on Al's shoulder.

"Oh…" Harry still didn't get the point of the present

"If you ever need the help of any alchemist, show them this. Given the materials transmuted into this and the specific amount of matter in it, very few will know its meaning, but whoever does, is a trustworthy person that will most likely help you" Al explained.

"But if you ever come across a tall, white woman, with her hair done with dreadlocks that responds to the name of Izumi Curtis, don't tell here where we are UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES! She will help you, yeah, but don't ask her to train you either, unless you want to find yourself in a living hell." Ed warned.

"She can't be much worse than you are" Harry replied joking.

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA!" Ed and Al countered in unison, fear on Ed's face.

After the presents they continued partying, toasting and dancing. Four hours later they all left to their respective common rooms. Even after such a party, Harry couldn't sleep, and found himself standing in front of the common room fireplace, examining his sword.

-----------------------------------------------------

"Harry, what are you doing awake so late at night? You have to sleep well" Hermione reprimanded him.

"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking…"

"Thinking about what?"-

-I've my doubts. I thought I knew Dumbledore and his plans, but… every passing day I feel I know him less and less."

"Dumbledore was always honest to you… he had great faith in you"

"Then why did he call the Elrics?"

"That again" Hermione said, a bit exasperated "To help us Harry… this is a war, a silent one, but a war nonetheless. Remember it was Ed who helped you in Potions, who is teaching you to fight without a wand"

"That…that's another question: Why did he leave me Gryffindor's sword? Isn't it supposed that any Griffyndor can wield it? And why did he leave Elric the legendary Excalibur? If they're such ancient, legendary and powerful weapons, why didn't the ministry oppose?"

"I don't know Harry, maybe it is because they're the legendary weapons of the Triumvirate to…to destroy the Horcruxes, and if the ministry didn't do anything about it is because you're everyone's hope"

"Scrimegour is protecting me, just like last year when he asked me to drop by the ministry every now and again to appease everyone, right?"

"Harry, you're a living legend, 'The Boy Who Lived', to many of them you are the Merlin of our age"

"Then why do they allow this to exist?" He asked angrily as he showed her a copy of "_The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_"

"This is a piece of rubbish, written by Skeeter nonetheless, you can't give it that much importance"

"Tell me…just tell me this: If I am their beacon of hope, why do they allow this?" He asked furious, while a couple of tears trailed down his cheeks.

"Voldemort tried to take over the ministry the first time around, they're afraid he'll try again"

"What's it got to do with this?"

"Don't you see? If he manages that, he'll persecute every one that supports you Harry, you're their beacon, yes, but they're also trying to protect themselves and their families…please try to understand them" Hermione tried to see everything logically.

"There's also the Horcruxes. We don't know where they are. We just know that the ones in Riddle's diary and in the Gaunt family ring are gone. We still don't know where the locket is, nor the identity or location of the rest. We believe one is Hufflepuff's cup, based on what Dumbledore said and thanks to Elric we suspect that Ravenclaw's diadem is another one, and we ignore where either one is, Nagini is always by Voldemort's side and we have no effing clue as to what the seventh one is"

"We just have to retrace Voldemort's steps" Hermione suggested.

"But he traveled for years, it could be right here in England or in Egypt or as far away as China, and we don't know how to destroy them either"

"Maybe that is why he left you the swords"

"Maybe…but does that mean that we have to find the other 7 weapons as well?"

"It's possible, I don't really know" Hermione admitted

"That quest could take years for all I know, and again…where does Elric fit in all of this?"

"That, we have to find out"

"You know, I sometimes think that Dumbledore didn't tell me everything, perhaps because he didn't trust me enough, or maybe just to have a good laugh at my expense from the beyond"

"OF COURSE NOT!" Hermione replied heatedly "He always knew you could make it"

Harry frowned "Mione, do you think I should restart the DA?"

"Of course you should! Dumbledore knew we'd be loyal to you, that's why he made us members of the Order as well"

"But I don't want you to die…not anyone else…many have died for me already"

"Yes, it's true" Hermione said, and Harry didn't reply "But many have lived because of you as well"

Harry and Hermione stared fixedly at one another for a moment, and without knowing why, how, or when they closed in on each other until their lips melted in a tender kiss.

"Mione…"

"I… sorry… it's just… you… and well… I… but Ron… and Ginny… and I… and… you… and… well… let's tell them tomorrow that the DA is reopening… well… now… sleep good… I mean well… and… uh… seeyoutomorrowgoodnight" Hermione stammered as she practically ran up the staircase to the girls' dormitories.

Harry on the other hand was rooted to the spot; he brought a hand up to his lips, smiled and went to sleep.

This was how doubt was born in Harry's and Ed's hearts. They both wondered what was most important, if this was all worth it, if they even had the right to be happy by the side of those they loved, and the price to pay for that. Questions that every man ends asking himself at some point in life…but they were not men, they were teenagers, on whose shoulders rested a great responsibility.

**A/N.- This is it for now, I hope you liked it, and don't worry, more will come soon (I hope), please review on your way out, thanks to all that already have done so, please keep doing it. Also big thanks to those that have added this fic to their favs or alerts (or both). Danke Schön!!!!**


	9. Choices

**A/N.- Jesus Christ, after a shitload of months of having the original document in my computer and not translating it thanks to the insane amount of work college has been kind enough to bestow upon me, here is chapter 9 of this story. Thanks for sticking with us and reviewing to those who have, now, let the chapter begin.**

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, Warner Bros and several publishers worldwide, while Hiromu Arakawa and SquareEnix own FullMetal Alchemist.

**Chapter 9.- Choices**

"...ry...ha...rr...ke..."

"...ake...rry..."

Harry was deeply asleep, dreaming he was inside a huge building full to the brim with books and parchment scrolls, floor to ceiling. He felt protected, yet overwhelmed. He was walking along a long hallway until he got splashed by ice cold water.

"Jebus! What the hell's wrong with you idiot?!" Harry asked the owner of the wand responsible for him being drenched.

"Ron's been trying to wake up for half an hour unsuccessfully"

"And that gives _you_ the right to drench me in ice cold water Elric?!"

"Well...actually yes"

"Why you..."

"Harry, we should get going, Neville's borderline hysteric now" Ron informed.

"Huh? Really?"

"Nah, just looks like a caged lion actually" Ed added sarcastically.

"Why? What's wrong with him?"

"Because of the DA. You promised yesterday, remember?"

"Oh... right, I'll catch up with you at the Great Hall"

"Alright, but hurry up, we still have some last minute studying to do" Ron urged him

"Yeah, yeah, I know" Harry said heavily.

"Oh, and by the way Potter, if I were you, I'd dry my bed or else the house elves will think you've got quite the bladder" Ed made fun of him.

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU IDIOT!"

Ron and Ed left the room so Harry could change and dry up the lake that was his bed. Before he left the room he took a quill, ink-pot, parchment and some books and threw them into his bag, slinging it onto his shoulder and leaving. When he got to the bottom of the staircase he looked at the fireplace, the one and only witness of their kiss last night, he touched his lips and then left, taking the shortcut Ed had unblocked weeks ago with alchemy, saving him some time.

* * *

"Harry! Over here!" Ginny called, waving.

"Morning" He greeted, then kissed Ginny tenderly as he usually did.

"Morning" Everyone chorused back.

"Neville, we're restarting the DA, but before that, I think we ought to have a meeting. Could you tell Luna for us? We're meeting in the Room of Requirement tonight at 8pm. Tell no one else, okay?"

"Sure, no problem, no one else will find out. Well, I'm leaving you for now, I got class"

"'K"

"Oh, and by the way, good luck on your exams"

"Thanks" The rest replied.

After than, Harry sat besides Ginny for breakfast, and set for eating breakfast. Due to the hours, there were almost no students left in the Great Hall. Hermione and Ed were discussing some techniques wizards of old used for self-defense and Ron tried to keep up, but unfortunately for him, for every thing he understood, ten more questions popped in his head.

"Nii-san it's almost time" Al warned.

"I know. So, shall we? Or do you prefer to get there next year?" Ed asked the rest.

Anxious and a bit upset, Al, Winry, Harry, Ron and Hermione followed Ed all the way to McGonagall's classroom. Inside there were six desks spread all over the place, an auror standing on each corner and in front sat McGonagall and Mad-Eye Moody.

"Sit" McGonagall ordered and everyone obeyed instantly. "As you all know, it was professor Dumbledore's last will that you six finished your magical education, despite the current circumstances, so you will be sitting your NEWTs in three phases. Phase one will be today, and it consist in a theory test of what you should all know up to this point. The score of this test will be averaged with the other two. Now that the explanation is out of the way, let's begin. The aurors here will give you quills and parchment made specially for this exam, so you won't be able to cheat. Not that it's really possible, since every exam is different, but has the same difficulty level.

"And God forgive the one that decides to cheat, since I will personally see to you punishment, IS THAT CLEAR?! I'll be watching you constantly" Mad-Eye warned.

"You have eight hours, begin"

They all swallowed hard and began their exams, which were every bit as difficult as every upperclassman made them to be. Harry skipped over the questions he didn't know the answer to, so he could complete as much as he could. Al and Winry had no trouble with the answers, since they knew every single answer, problem was that they were too complex and long. Ron, on the other hand, prayed to every known deity that he could borrow the tiniest part of Hermione's brain just for the next eight hours. Ed and Hermione finished their exams each under three hours, record time. Once outside, Hermione approached Ed.

"Do you think they'll take too long?"

"I think Al, Win and Potter will finish in a couple more hours, three tops, but your boyfriend Ron..." Ed sighed "...I'm afraid eight hours won't be enough for him to finish"

Hermione nodded in agreement, sighing heavily as well.

"Let's go take a walk. We have at least two hours till they come out"

"I don't know" Hermione said dubiously

"What? does you boyfriend get jealous?"

"Edward!"

Ed chuckled "Come on then"

Ed and Hermione strolled around the castle, until they reached the vast grounds, walking quietly until Edward decided to break the silence.

"How do you feel about Potter?"

"Excuse me?"

"Might not be my business, but I saw everything...even the kiss"

"I...uuh...you know it's rude to spy on others"

"Maybe, but that smile you had last night and the one you just got when I asked... that's not a smile of guilt"

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm... let's see, how can I say this... you see, when you are with Ron, you look happy, but when you are with Potter, just with him, you positively glow"

"That's not true! Harry's just... my friend" She said those two words quietly.

"Right... and that's the reason why you glare daggers every time he's with Ginny" Ed replied sarcastically.

"Well... I... I don't know"

"Do you love him?"

"I don't know. W-why are you asking me this all of a sudden? How does that help you?"

"Potter might be an idiot, an asshole, a good-for-nothing, useless git... but you all mean the world to him, and it would be a pity that all that went spiraling down because of a love conflict"

"Just what are you insinuating, that I am a shameless whore that doesn't care if she ruins everyone's life just for a moment of pleasure?!" Hermione asked hysterically.

"No, no, no, I mean that you have to find out who you really love, and if it is Potter, you ought to fight for him. Opportunities for happiness are very rare, and they must be seized, because if you doubt, you'll end second plate"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"'Cause I like you and you've helped us a great deal, and I feel I must repay you somehow"

"I've just done what everyone else would..."

"Doubt it... not everyone would teach you ancient runes with all the patience in the world, or show you everything related to her world while that bunch of strangers' skills easily rival yours"

"That was not necessary" Hermione said, blushing

Ed just shrugged "Consider it equivalent exchange"

"Thanks Ed" Hermione said, hugging him. Ed doubted at first, but eventually returned the hug.

"Well, we better get going" Hermione said after they parted the hug "They must be finishing by now... or at least I hope they are"

Ed and Hermione walked back to the Transfigurations classroom to wait for their peers to come out. Twenty minutes later Al did.

"You took your time, Al"

"Sorry, Nii-san, my exam was pretty laborious, we had to explain the reason for the department of Regulation of Magical Creatures to exist...and Hagrid didn't really explain that."

"Hagrid just loves about everything that's dangerous and rare. If it were up to him, the castle'd be crawling with dragons and acromantulæ" Hermione said, laughing.

"Maybe" Ed agreed and the three laughed Heartily. As they did so, Winry came out of the classroom.

"Now I know why everyone fears that test..."

"Was it that bad?" Hermione asked.

"Nah, got an O at least in it" Winry bragged while she and Hermione engaged in a glare contest.

"Ummm...Al... Do they teach how to control and calm women down in Care of Magical Creatures?" Ed asked.

"I don't think so... but I guess it'd be pretty useful..." Al replied.

"Jesus Christ!" Harry said as he left the room.

"How did it go Harry?" Al asked politely

"I passed... I hope..."

"So mediocre! I'm sure I get at least an O" Ed bragged.

"Sorry, what did you just say, pipsqueak?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIPSQUEAK?!"

Al played referee, trying to calm all of them, but as soon as he managed to calm the boys, the girls would start arguing again. Two hours passed in the same fashion, until Ron finally made it out of the room.

"...I think I now know why Fred and George bailed out of school... they weren't too keen on living that nightmare..."

"Well, it could've been worse" Al said consolingly.

"At least I tried..."

Between jokes and cheering up, they all headed for the Great Hall for something to eat. When they were done, they headed for the Room of Requirement, where Neville and Luna were already waiting for them.

When they opened the door, they entered a spacious hall with a round table and 9 chairs. Everyone took their place, while Hermione pulled out nine glasses and poured butterbeer in them, passing them around, while everyone grabbed a biscuit from the center of the table. Once they all settled down, Harry spoke.

"Thanks for coming. As you know, I asked for this meeting to see how would the DA be organized this year. I requested that only you came here because you've proved yourselves to be the most constant, loyal and skilled members. even the Elric brothers and Winry have proved themselves worthy time and time again, so the nine of us will lead the DA instead of only me, that is, if you agree"

"Aye" The other eight chorused.

"First of all we have to inform the students of the reopening of the DA, but they'll swarm here like flies to cow pies, what with me being "The Chosen One" and all that crap...so how should we organize them and ourselves?"

"First we ought to get rid of the rubbish. It's no use to have the whole school here so that when the time comes, only 10 or 15 will be willing to actually fight" Ed adviced.

"How do we do that Edward?" Neville asked.

"We can test them, and only the top scores will stay" Hermione suggested.

"A test is no guarantee they'll be loyal to us, or everyone else" Ginny coutered.

"Easy, psychological tricks" Ed said simply.

"Do you plan on torturing them psychologically and let the sane ones join Elric? that would make us as low if not lower than Voldemort" Harry replied angrily.

"Uuh... not exactly... I meant something like this..." Ed started explaining his idea to the others.

"Vile, cruel and plain mean, but I like it" Harry said approvingly.

"Ok, first point addressed, what now?" Ron asked.

"What will each of us teach, and who?"

"We just can't teach everything in the Hogwarts curriculum, so I think we better take just the essentials, and let the one that feels more comfortable with each subject to teach it" Hermione suggested.

They started brainstorming ideas and forming a plan.

"Perfect! Now, point number three would be the shape the room will take. What exactly would we need?" Harry inquired

"One that's always changing... where no one can find us. I mean, classes will be secret, won't they?" Neville said

"Yup, that's right. I wouldn't fancy any sort of interference" Harry replied.

"And if someone will be always teaching, it would never be unoccupied, so we can communicate through the enchanted galleons, so the room can only be opened from the inside"

"Brilliant Neville!" Ginny praised him, making him blush Weasley red.

"Can I see one of those galleons, Potter?" Ed enquired.

"Sure, here"

"Just how do they work?"

Hermione explained in detail the Protean charm and how it worked in the coins, based on the previous DA meetings.

"I see...but it's too common, don't you think?"

"The point was to be inconspicuous, else we'd all be carrying a flag you idiot"

"Uh huh... has it ever occurred to you, Potter, that if you lose that Galleon amongst a bunch of other coins or simply lose it, you're toast?"

"Has never happened" Was Harry's gruff answer.

"Never say never"

"What do you suggest then, Mr. Know-It-All?"

Ed frowned "Something that's not so easily noticeable, yet not so common..." Ed said, and his words were met with silence as everyone thought about something that no one would suspect about, yet not too common or easy to lose.

"What are you fiddling with Ron?" Al asked.

"Oh, just something Fred gave to me. It's a new item for the joke shop, he says it's meant to pick on people from other schools"

"Can I see it?" Al requested, and Ron nodded and gave it to hime.

"Here" It was a pendant bearing the Hogwarts crest, but when touched, the crest would turn into the words "Proudly Hogwarts"

"THAT'S IT!" Al yelled

"What is it?" Ed asked.

"Nii-san, we could use those pendants instead of the coins"

"But it's a new product, is it really that common?"

"Hey Ron, could your brother send us boxes full of those things?" Winry asked.

"I...guess...why?"

"Don't you see? We could sell them here for them, students will love it. Maybe they will even buy several for their relatives. Members of the DA can wear fake pendants with the Protean charm, that way we could just pretend to be part of the trend" Winry explained the rest.

"Brilliant! Everyone would think it's just student's pride!" Harry said enthusiastically.

"Fred and George will make quite a winning with this too, maybe they'll even give us a small commission" Ron said eager.

"So with all that settled, when do we start?" Neville asked.

"Well, Bill's wedding is this Saturday, and we leave for the Burrow on Monday, also, knowing mum, she will try to keep us there for another good two weeks" Ron mused.

"So, we'd start somewhere around November 15th" Harry confirmed.

"Wait! I know why this group's called DA, but Dumbledore's gone already... it's all in our hands now, and we have to look to the future now, not the past"

"So you want us to change the name just because you don't like it, Elric?"

"Nope, I'm just saying we have to let Dumbledore rest in peace, and the way to do that is remove the burden of the war from his shoulders"

"How dare you Elric?!"

"Actually, I think he is right Harry" Hermione seconded Ed.

"But..."

"Time's up" Ginny announced.

"So, what do you suggest? You do have a suggestion, don't you?"

"How about..."

"That's fine, we shall be called like that as of today" They all toasted to the future, and after a while they left for their common rooms and their beds.

It was almost midnight, Harry and the rest were fast asleep, while Ed tossed and turned, lost in thought, looking fixedly at his silver pocketwatch.

"_Voldemort will give me everything if I join him._.."

-----Flashback-----

"And if you join him he'll give you a great power: the real philosopher's stone. Not the fake one created with human lives, but the one made by pure alchemy and magic. With it you can give your mother her life back, and regain all that you lost that fateful night."

"_Al's body_" Ed thought.

"And as proof of his good will, he sends you two gifts. This is the first one" Bellatrix said, handing Ed a package wrapped in black paper.

"And you're supposing that I'll just say 'yes, of course I'll go with you right away, seeing as I don't give a shit about muggles and wizards dying and can become all-powerful'? Ha!" Ed said sarcastically

"That's what the second gift is about: my lord grants you all the time you need to decide. So, in case you wish to side with those that seek knowledge and justice, you just aim your wand at your arm and say _morsmordre_, and you will find yourself at my lord's side immediately. That said, we take our leave and expect you there soon" Lorena said, and a second later, the two witches apparated away.

"What could this be?" Ed mused, making to open the package.

"Don't open it nii-san! What if it is a trap?"

"Had they wanted to kill me, we'd be fighting right now Al- Ed replied, ripping off the paper and finding an old, tattered book written in odd symbols and titled "The tales of Beedle the Bard"

-----End flashback-----

"_Voldemort...Dumbledore...Potter...Al...it's my fault Al lost his body, I owe it to him...on the other hand...am I really capable of it?...I've lost so much already...it's worth it, for Al and Win...I'll do what it takes...but I must be cautious...earn his trust...avoid him finding out..."_

"_That settles it, I know what I must do...but I have to plan it thoroughly...OK, it's time..._" After checking his pocket watch for the time, he descended to the common room. Harry wasn't asleep as he thought though, and the raven-haired boy decided to see what he was up to, sleepless as he was. Harry followed Ed down the spiral staircase, but when he reached the bottom, there was nobody there, so he sat on the armchair by the fireplace.

The clock on the room chimed 4am, everything was calm and silent, only Harry was out of bed, lost in his own thoughts.

"_Mum...dad...Sirius...Cedric...Dumbledore...they all died because of me...to save me...but why is my life more valuable than theirs? Is it really worth that much? Is one life worth more than five others?...Bloody Edward, he's younger than me and still..."_ Harry couldn't hold his tears back at this point

"..._still he's saved far more lives than I have...he's protected others, not been protected...WHY CAN'T I BE LIKE THAT?! Why am I asked to forget? How could I ever forget the ones that have protected me? Is it fair to do so?...No, I can't...I must remember them...it's my duty...so no, I don't want to forget them...I don't want to be alone...I can't...they can't make me...I CAN'T DO IT!_

_What should I do? Should I leave?...perhaps it's better if I do...perhaps they will all be happier...I...I shouldn't be with Ginny, they could hurt her...because of me...I should distance myself from her...we haven't been careful...what if she gets pregnant? and...Hermione...why have I been dreaming of her? Why?...she's just my friend...just that...just my friend...she loves Ron...I can't do this to him either..._

_I deserve this...All those years...all those opportunities...and I was a coward...just because I was a bloody coward I didn't dare...tell her...ever since that first day on the train...I fancied her...she was...no, is...the owner of my fantasies...but I was a coward...I could never...not anymore...but that kiss...it was wonderful...I've never felt anything like this before...what if she...nah, I don't think so...it would be to good to be true...and good things...they never last for me...I couldn't stand seeing her die...no, not her...no, NEVER! SHE'LL NEVER DIE! My soul would die with her..._"

Harry was lost in his thoughts for what he swore felt like months, but were just minutes. He then heard the common room door, so he turned around. Hermione emerged from the portrait hole, wet from head to toe, agitated.

"What is it Hermione? Why are you so..." Hermione silenced him with a kiss. But it wasn't a tender kiss, like the other night, this kiss was savage, passionate, even randy. Harry was quite surprised, not expecting something like that, but even then, that had been one of his fantasies, so he took no time wrapping his arms around her, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. Their tongues danced with each other in their mouths, Harry's hands wandered and explored all of Hermione's wet back, from her shoulders all the way down to her exquisite arse, the one he so liked, bested only by her beautiful, hypnotic chocolate brown eyes. The lack of oxygen in their brains forced them to pull away, staring at each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity.

"Harry...I love Ginny like a little sister, but I love you and will fight for your love. I'm telling them both, Ron and Ginny...I don't know how or when, but I will, and soon, and you will be mine and only mine. I don't give a damn about your fears, I love you. I love you and no matter how, I will have your heart...and every other part of your being"

"But Hermione, I..." Harry began, but Hermione interrupted him.

"Harry James Potter, as of today, I, Hermione Jane Granger will be your one owner, your woman. all of my being, my soul, love and body are yours, and yours only, just like your soul, love and body will belong to me and only me" It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

While she said this, Hermione had a determined look in her eyes and a triumphant smile on her lips, and before Harry could even say a syllable (not that he would be able to in a while), she climbed the stairs to the girls' dorm rooms, and again Harry was rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do, but with every negative though miles away from his mind now.

"_What the hell was I thinking about?! Didn't Dumbledore himself say it? The most powerful magic, the one that Voldemort has never known, is love...as long as I have my friends and Hermione I have nothing to fear, I'm capable of anything for them. I...I'll become more powerful, strong enough to protect them...I shall never lose a beloved person again and I won't become another Tom Riddle either. NO! I shall become the most powerful wizard, stronger than Merlin, and will only use my magic to protect everyone in this world. Mom, dad, Sirius, Cedric, Dumbledore...your sacrifices won't be in vain, and your lives won't have been wasted. Please guide me from the stars, help me to always do the right thing, give me the strength to never give up, not as long as I have my friends and Hermione by my side. I'll have to find a way to break up with Ginny without hurting her, I love her nonetheless. She's still a very important person to me, but I love and am in love with Hermione, too much for my own good. Ron is my best mate as well, my brother, he should understand I love her. And as soon as this goddamned war is over, when I finally beat the shit out of that bastard Voldemort, I'll take her away and she'll be only mine, and perhaps...someday...we might even start a family of our own. But for that to happen, I have to train harder every day. It's settled."_

That night, Harry dreamed of Hermione and a great future with her.

That day was determinant for Edward Elric and Harry Potter. Their choices would impact history greatly, and two paths were forged. One day was enough to decide the fate of this magical war.

**A/N.- Hmmm...bit confusing? Let me know in a review, and I'll see what I can answer without spoiling the story for yeh :P Thanks.**


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